ITS  LEGENDS 
km  ITS  HISTORY 

ACE  GREYLOCK  N1LES 


By  Grace  Greylock  Afiles 


Bog-Trotting  for  Orchids 
The  Hoosac  Valley 


The  Witenagemot  Oak.    A  Treaty  Tree  of  Peace  and  Welfare. 

Planted   by  the  Christians  for  the  Hoosac   and  Mohawk  Scouts,  near  the 

junction  of  the  Tomhannac  Creek  with  the  Hoosac  River,  in  the  Vale  of  Peace,  Old 

Schaghticoke,  New  York.     Here  assembled  the  first  Council  of  the  Christians  with 

Soquon  and  Maquon  after  the  Hoosacs'  final  victory  over  Kryn's  Mohawks  in 

l6rf-  A  nd  then  to  mark  the  lord  of  all, 

The  forest  hero,  trained  to  wars, 
Quivered  and  plumed,  and  lithe  and  tall, 

And  seamed  with  glorious  scars, 
Walk  forth,  amid  his  reign,  to  dare 
The  wolf,  and  grapple  with  the  bear. 
Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 


The  Hoosac   Valley 


Its  Legends  and  Its  History 


By 

Grace  Greylock  Niles 

Author  of  "  Bog-Trotting  for  Orchids  ** 


With  110  Illustrations 


>    i  '  >    >      n 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New   York  and  London 

Ube  IRnicfeerbocfeer  press 

1912 


Copyright,  191a 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


•  •   •  •  -•  • 

,.     •  •  •  •  , 


•       m*      •*"       •'•    *••      *  *  « 


TCbe  ftnfcfcerboclier  Qvcee,  Hcxo  Hovk 


Go 

THE   MEMORY   OF 


SOQUON     AND    MAQUON 


ERRA  TA 

p.  1 06,  1.  10      For  William  Banker  read  Amos  B.  Banker. 

p.  106, 1.  20.     For  located  about  the  Drader-bach  read  located  two  miles 

south  of  the  Drader-bach. 
p.  106, 1.  22-23.     For  moving  eastward  over  the  Schaghticoke  Plains  read 

moving  over  the  highway. 

p.  342,  1.  26.  ) 

„  ,-  1     .   r  For  Duer  House  read  Matthew  House. 
P-  345.  I  31-  j 


Zbe  ftnCcfcerbocfeer  pveet,  flew  JJorfe 


XLO 

THE   MEMORY   OF 

SOQUON     AND    MAQUON 

the  last  great  seers  of  the 
"  Mahican  Men  of  the  East" 

AND   THE 

"Warriors  of  the  Rising  Sun" 

the 

first  inhabitants  of  the  old 

hoosacs'  valley  of  mingling  waters 

and  the 

"Vale  of  Peace" 

1609-1709 


PREFACE 

THE  early  history  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  is  inextricably 
interwoven  with  that  of  the  very  foundation  of  our 
great  Republic.  Its  inhabitants  were  among  the  first  to  rise 
in  resentment  of  the  tyranny  of  the  mother  country,  to 
defend  the  outraged  rights  of  American  manhood ;  and  it  was 
here  that  some  of  the  most  determined  sieges  of  the  Revo- 
lution took  place.  Bancroft  considered  the  victory  of 
Bennington  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  eventful  strokes 
of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  battle-fields  of  the  savage  period,  during  the  Mohawk 
and  Mahican  wars,  between  1540  and  1 669,  were  located 
chiefly  in  the  narrow  passes  of  the  Taconac  and  Green 
mountains  north  of  the  Forbidden  Hoosac  Mountain, 
between  the  Hudson-Champlain  and  Connecticut  valleys. 
The  ''dark  and  bloody  war-paths"  stretched  from  Hochelaga 
— the  Algonquin's  council-hill  on  the  site  of  Montreal  in  the 
St.  Lawrence  Valley  of  New  France — south  to  Cohoes  Falls, 
the  eastern  portal  of  the  Mohawk  Valley;  thence,  through 
the  Hoosac  Pass  to  Manhattan,  Pequot,  and  Wampanoag 
bays  on  the  coasts  of  New  Netherland  and  New  England. 

The  Abenakis  tradition  refers  to  Uncus  and  Passaconaway 
and  their  Mahican  and  Pennacook  councillors  lighting  the 
nation's  council-fire  at  Chescodonta,  the  site  of  Albany 
Capitol,  until  about  1595.  However,  at  the  time  Samuel 
Champlain  and  his  French  and  Algonquin  crew  visited 
Ticonderoga  in  July,  1609,  and  Hendrik  Hudson  and  his 
English  and  Dutch  crew  of  the  Half  Moon  anchored  at 
Chescodonta  six  weeks  later,  King  Aepjen  had  removed  the 


VI 


Preface 


Abenakis  Democracy's  Capitol  to  Schodac,  the  site  of 
Castleton,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson.  His  Owl  and 
Hero  captains,  Soquon  and  Maquon  of  the  Bears  and  Wolves, 
commanded  castles,  Unuwat  and  Moenemines,  below  Cohoes 
Falls  and  guarded  the  war-trails  leading  to  the  Iroquois 
hunting-grounds  and  the  neutral  forests  about  Ticonderoga. 

The  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  of  the  races  of  Great  Soqui 
and  Great  Minsi  resided  in  the  Green,  Taconac,  Helderbergs, 
and  Catskills.  They  held  the  most  powerful  military  posi- 
tion of  the  warriors  of  New  England  and  New  Netherland, 
along  both  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain  water- 
ways. As  a  result,  they  were  recognized  as  the  greatest 
strategists  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy  during  the  first 
century  of  our  colonial  history,  until  dispersed  by  the 
superior  cunning  of  the  Christians  and  the  trickery  of 
the  Mohawks  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy. 

As  early  as  1628,  Maquon  and  Soquon  were  forced  from 
their  Saratoga  and  Hoosac  hunting-grounds  by  the  Mo- 
hawks. They  retreated  over  the  Green  Mountains  and 
located  at  Coos  Falls  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut, 
where  their  warriors  took  the  tribal  name  of  Coosacs  and 
Soquonsacs  under  Soquon.  They  were  soon  joined  by  their 
kindred  Pennacook  and  Abnaquis,  Bears  of  the  White  Moun- 
tains and  Maine  Woods,  and  for  forty-one  years  continued 
to  dispute  the  Mohawks'  occupation  of  their  hunting- 
grounds.  At  last,  during  the  late  autumn  of  1669,  the 
Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  won  the  final  victory  over  the 
Mohawks,  and  again  settled  in  their  native  forests.  They 
adopted  the  new  national  name  Skatecooks  or  Schaghticokes, 
signifying  Warriors  of  the  Mingling  Waters. 

The  colonial  and  revolutionary  history  of  the  Hoosac 
Valley  touches  that  of  five  important  provinces:  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut  on  the  south; 
New  Hampshire  Grants  on  the  east ;  New  York  on  the  west, 


The  Walloomsac  Ford  of  the  ancient  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  Trail,  over  which 
the  Fort  Massachusetts  Captives  crossed,  August  22,  1746,  to  Van  Ness  Mansion 
on  their  March  up  the  Owl  Kill  Trail  to  Quebec's  Prison-Pens. 

Fort  St.  Croix  Terrace  looms  up  on  the  right  in  the  distance.  On  this  Ter- 
race had  been  built  four  or  five  different  Forts  and  Forest  Chapels  between  1540 
and  1777,  although  little  is  definitely  recorded  about  their  construction  or  destruc- 
tion. 

Whence  have  sprung  the  things  that  are  ? 
And  whither  roll  the  passing  years? 
Where  does  Time  conceal  its  two  heads, 
In  dense  impenetrable  gloom, 
Its  surface  marked  with  heroes'  deeds  alone  ? 

Ossian,  Duan  of  Ca-Lodin. 


Vll 


viii  Preface 

and  the  Green  Mountain  campaign  ground,  of  Vermont, 
within  whose  borders  occurred  many  controversies  over  the 
adopted  Twenty-Mile  Line  between  New  York  and  New 
England  after  the  English  conquest  of  New  Netherland. 

"It  is  not  the  number  of  killed  and  wounded  in  a  battle," 
wrote  Montesquieu,  "that  determines  its  historical  impor- 
tance.' '  And  whether  our  American  battles  were  fought 
by  the  savage  or  by  the  Christian,  to  quote  the  emphatic 
lines  of  Lord  Byron : 

'T  is  the  cause  makes  all, 

Degrades  or  hallows  courage  in  its  fall. 

The  successors  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  including  the 
zealous  Cotton  Mather,  held  the  doctrine  of  Underhill  and 
Church.  They  believed  the  Mahicans  to  be  the  heathen 
tribes  of  Israel  and  contended  that  they  had  no  rights  that 
the  Christian  was  bound  to  respect.  The  fur- traders  soon 
succeeded  in  robbing  the  Indians  of  their  lands  for  a  few 
kegs  of  beer  and  grape  wine.  Later  the  English  elders  and 
Dutch  dominies  took  possession  of  the  heathen's  hunting- 
grounds,  and  the  savages  discovered  too  late  that  they  pos- 
sessed only  the  Christian's  Bibles  and  had  developed  an 
unconquerable  thirst  for  their  Spirit-waters.  The  educa- 
tional status  of  the  Redmen  might  have  rested  upon  a 
more  satisfactory  basis  had  they  been  approached  either  by 
a  lower  race  of  civilization  or  by  higher  exponents  of  Chris- 
tianity than  the  creeds  represented  by  the  grasping  Dutch, 
French,  and  English  Fathers. 

The  territory  that  lies  in  the  heart  of  the  Taconac 
Highlands  covers  but  a  small  area  of  that  occupied  by 
the  thirteen  original  colonies,  but  the  region  between 
Fort  Massachusetts  of  the  English  on  the  upper  Hoosac, 
forts  Crailo  and  Orange  of  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson, 
and   Fort   St.    Frederic   of   the   French   at   Crown    Point 


Preface 


IX 


on  Lake  Champlain,  was  destined  to  be  the  birthplace 
of  American  patriotism — one  might  say,  of  the  very  spirit 
of  the  first  open  rebellion  against  the  English  Crown, 
resulting  in  the  American  Revolution. 

The  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  passes  of  the  Taconacs 
became  the  gateways  leading  to  the  campaign  ground  of 
border  warfare  of  the  contending  nations  of  New  England, 
New  Netherland,  and  New  France.  No  less  than  ten  differ- 
ent forts  have  occupied  the  portals  of  the  main  war-paths 
of  the  interior  Hoosac  Valley;  and  forty  more  strongholds 
have  flanked  its  borders  within  a  radius  of  seventy-five 
miles  of  the  meeting  of  the  boundaries  of  Massachusetts, 
Vermont,  and  New  York. 

The  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconacs  has  been  compared  to 
the  Pass  of  Thermopylae.  The  standards  of  the  Hoosacs 
and  Mohawks  were  unfurled  when  the  "Assemblage  of  the 
Wise"  took  place  in  March,  1676,  and  Gov.  Edmund  Andros 
planted  the  Witenagemot  Oak  in  Old  Schaghticoke  on  the 
lower  Hoosac.  It  marks  the  only  "Vale  of  Peace"  on 
the  continent  where  a  tree  of  welfare  has  been  planted 
for  the  Indians.  In  the  Hoosac  Pass  the  flags  of  the  French, 
Dutch,  English,  and  Americans,  and  the  banners  of  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  churches  have  been  unfurled. 
The  American  Stars  and  Stripes  was  hoisted  on  the  breeze 
of  Freedom,  at  the  surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga, 
on  October  17,  1777,  a  little  over  four  months  after  it  had 
been  adopted  by  Congress. 

The  brilliancy  and  value  of  the  Councils  of  Safety,  and 
the  heroic  service  rendered  by  the  Berkshire,  Bennington, 
Rensselaer,  and  Washington  boys,  is  denied  by  no  student 
of  history.  In  all  the  wars  of  the  Republic,  the  Hoosac- 
tonians'  militia  has  been  represented,  in  the  victorious  fight- 
ing ranks,  by  sturdy  representatives  of  American  courage 
and  intelligence. 


x  Preface 

The  author's  purpose  here  is  not  to  furnish  new  pages  for 
history,  but  rather  to  present  the  story  of  beginnings  in 
Historic  Hoosac  and  Saratoga  in  their  true  relations  to  the 
world's  great  history  of  war,  peace,  and  progress.  Yet 
because  of  inherited  sympathies,  she  naturally  is  inclined 
to  give  full  credit  to  the  victorious  deeds  of  the  "Sons  of 
Freedom"  of  this  fair  valley,  who  fought  entirely  forgetful 
of  self  in  their  devotion  to  American  Independence. 

G.  G.  N. 

New  York  City, 
January,  19 12. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY 
The  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains        .         .         i 

CHAPTER  I 

The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  and  Legend  of  St. 

Croix,  i 540-1 669 14 

CHAPTER  II 

The  Schaghticokes' Witenagemot  Tree,  i 669-1 676       .      43 

CHAPTER  III 

Mahican   Boundaries  and   Christian  Border  Forts, 

1615-1815 58 

CHAPTER  IV 
Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerb acker's  Colony,  1676- 

1759 83 

CHAPTER  V 

Fort  St.  Croix  and  the  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch 

Hoosac,  1624-1759  ......     109 

CHAPTER  VI 
Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac,  1 745-1 746     .     127 

chapter  VII 
Ephraim  Williams  and  the  Battle  of  Lake  George, 

1 747-1 755 x45 

si 


xii  Contents 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  VIII 
Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown,  1749-18 15  .     162 

CHAPTER  IX 

East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams,  1749-1815     .         .     184 

CHAPTER  X 

Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington,  1 749-1 81 5 .     204 

CHAPTER  XI 

Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh  Neighborhood, 

1759-1815 230 

CHAPTER  XII 
Old  Schaghticoke  and  Old  Cambridge  Districts,  1759- 

1815 251 

CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Green  Mountain  Boys'  Militia  of  Bennington, 

1764-1815 271 

CHAPTER  XIV 

First  Open  Rebellion  against  the  Crown  at  Fort 

Breakenridge,  1 766-1 775       .         .         .         .         .281 

CHAPTER  XV 
The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  May  10, 1775   .         .     293 

CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Councils  of  Safety,  1 775-1 778       ....     309 

CHAPTER  XVII 
The  Victory  of  Bennington,  August  16, 1777         .         .     331 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
Surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga,  October 

I7,i777 352 


Contents  xiii 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XIX 
Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family      ....     368 

CHAPTER  XX 

Free  School  of  Williamstown  and  Williams  College, 

1785-1912 381 

CHAPTER  XXI 

Slavery  and  the  Birthplace  of  American  Missions, 

1 773-1 906 409 

CHAPTER  XXII 

Industrial  Independence  during  Stage-Coach  Days, 

1 774-1 874 432 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

A  Century  of  Progress   during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel 

Era,  1810-1910 450 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters, 

1610-1910      ........     482 

"The  Hoosac  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters"      .         .     509 

NOTES 

I 

Indian  Origins  of  the  Hudson,  Hoosac,  Housatonac, 

and  Mohawk  Valleys 511 

II 

Lieut.  John  Catlin's  Letters  about  Fort  Massachu- 
setts Supplies       .......     525 

III 
First  Muster  Roll  of  Fort  Massachusetts  .         .         .     527 


xiv  Contents 


IV 

An  Account  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  the  command  of  sergt.  john  hawks,  who 
Were  Taken  with  Him  at  Fort  Massachusetts, 
Aug.  20, 1746 528 

V 

Recruiting  Muster  Roll  of  Garrison  Soldiers  of  Fort 
Massachusetts,  under  the  Command  of  Capt. 
Ephraim  Williams,  August  20,  1746,  Many  of 
Whom  Served  in  the  Second  Fort  in  1747  .         .     530 

VI 

Muster  Floll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  the  command  of  lleut.  elisha  hawley. 
Dated,  December,  1747,  till  March,  1748,  at  Fort 
Massachusetts     .         .         .         .         .         .         .531 

VII 

Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  the  command  of  capt.  ephraim  wllliams, 
Jun'r,  at  Fort  Massachusetts.  Dated  March  to 
December  11, 1749 533 

VIII 

Muster  Rolls  of  the  Companies  in  His  Majesty's 
Service  of  Forts  Massachusetts,  Shirley,  and 
Pelham,  under  the  Command  of  Capt.  Ephraim 
Williams,  Jun'r.  Dated  December  ii,  1749-JuNE 
3,1750 534 

IX 

Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  the  command  of  capt.  ephraim  wllliams, 
Jun'r,  at  Fort  Massachusetts.  Dated  June  4, 
i75o-January  13, 1751 534 


Contents  xv 

PAGE 

X 

Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.'s  Letter  ....     535 

XI 

Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  the  command  of  capt.  elisha  chapin  of 
Fort  Massachusetts.  Dated,  June,  i 752-JuNE,  1 753     536 

XII 

Last  Muster  Roll  in  His  Majesty's  Service  under 
the  Command  of  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jun'r,  of 
Fort  Massachusetts.  Dated,  September,  1754- 
March,  1755 537 

XIII 

Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service 
under  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman,  in  Command  of  Fort 
Massachusetts  during  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's 
March  to  Lake  George.     Dated,  July,  1755  .     538 

XIV 

Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  of  Musket  Men,  Con- 
taining 59  English  Hoosac  Minute  Men  under 
Capt.  Samuel  Sloan,  Who  Marched  with  General 
Arnold's  Regiment  against  Quebec,  1 775-1 776        .     538 

XV 
The  Green  Mountain  Settlers'  Petition     .         .         .     540 

XVI 
Rebuke  of  the  King  to  Governor  Moore     .         .         .     542 

XVII 

Treaty  of  the  Settlers  of  English  Walloomsac  Towns 
with  the  Stockbridge  Indians  for  the  Schaghti- 
cokes'  Hoosac  Hunting-Grounds  .         .         .     543 


xvi  Contents 

PAGE 
XVIII 

Arnold's  Bill  of  Expenses  ......     544 

XIX 
Arnold's  Commission 545 

xx 

Muster  Roll  of  East  Bennington  Company,  Contain- 
ing 77  Names,  under  the  Command  of  Capt.  Samuel 
Robinson,  Aug.  16, 1777  .....     546 

XXI 

Muster  Roll  of  West  Bennington  Company,  Contain- 
ing 78  Names,  under  the  Command  of  Capt.  Elijah 
Dewey,  Aug.  16, 1777 547 

XXII 
The  Famous  Rudd  Letter    ......     548 

Index 551 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  Witenagemot  Oak.     A  Treaty  Tree  of  Peace  and 

Welfare       .......     Frontispiece 

The  Walloomsac  Ford  of  the  Ancient  Hoosac  and 

Mohawk  Trail vii 

The  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains,  near  the 

Weeping  Rocks     .......         3 

The   Westward   Course   of   Hoosac   River  through 

Blackington,  Massachusetts         .        •.         .         .         5 

Hobbamocko's  Shrine           ......  9 

The  "  Half  Moon  " 17 

Map  of  Country  East  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Divide  .  2 1 

Figurative  Map  of  New  Netherland  in  161 4         .         .  23 

pleter  stuyvesant,  the  last  of  the  dutch  governors 

of  New  Netherland 33 

The  Weeping  Rocks  of  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  Pownal 

along  the  hoosac  and  mohawk  war-trail    .         .       35 

Charter  of  New  York,  Granted  by  King  Charles  II  to 

His  Brother  James        ......       38 

Site  of  the  Devil's  Chimney,  Known  to  the  Hoosacs 

as  Hobbamocko's  Altar         .....       40 

The  Witenagemot  Oak.     A  Treaty  Tree  of  Peace  and 

Welfare 51 

xvii 


xviii  Illustrations 


Mitchell's  Map  of  the  British  and  French  Dominions 

in  North  America,  1755 63 

A  Plan  of  23,040  Acres  of  Land  Lying  on  the  East  Side 

of  ashuwilticook  rlver 68 

Original  Copy  of  Hoosac  Patent  .         .         .  72-73 


Fort  Schaghticoke  Meadow,  from  the  Col.  Johannes 
Groesbeck  Orchard      ..... 


Capt.  Johannes  Knickerb acker  Manor 

Capt.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  1st,  of  Fort  Schaghti 
coke,  and  his  ' '  goed  vrouw  " 

The  Squaw  King,  Etawa  Caume   .... 

The  Hero,  Maquon-Pauw,  Emperor  Johannes 

The  Flint-Lock  King  Brandt     .... 

The  Hero,  Emperor  Hendrick      .... 

Major  Derrick  Van  Vechten  Mansion  at  the  Base  of 
Pudding-Hill  in  Old  Schaghticoke 

A  Hand-Shaved  Clapboard  from  Col.  Johannes  Groes 
beck  Mansion       ...... 


Boulder  Marking  the  Grave  of  Col.  Johannes  Knick 
erbacker      ....... 


Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness  St.  Croix  Manor 
The  St.  Croix  Burial-Field  .... 

The  Perry  Elm,  Marking  the  Site  of  Fort  Massachu 
setts    

Fort  Massachusetts  Blockhouse 


85 
87 

89 

94 
95 
96 

97 

99 

103 

104 

113 
116 

128 
129 


Illustrations  xix 


PAGE 


Cohoha  Cornfield  of  Kreigger  Rock  Neighborhood 
in  Hoosac  Pass  above  Junction  of  Little  Hoosac 
with  Big  Hoosac   .......     135 

Fort  Massachusetts  Meadow,  Site  of  Second  Block- 
house, with  St.  Francis  Indian  Ledge  in  Distance       149 

Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  Sword  and  Watch  .         .159 

Monument  Marking  the  Rocky  Hill  near  where  Col. 

Ephraim  Williams  Fell 160 

The  Green  River  Valley 165 

The  River  Bend  Tavern  Built  by  Benjamin  Simonds 

on  North  Bank  of  Hoosac  River    .         .         .         .172 

The  Hopper  Brook  near  its  Confluence  with  Green 

River 175 

The  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Christ    .         .177 

Smedley's  Green  River  Mansion  .         .         .         .178 

Col.  Benjamin  Simonds         ......     182 

North  Adams  in  i  840  during  the  Stage-Coach  Days       .     1 85 

Raven  Rock  Road  through  the  Notch  Valley  during 

Winter 189 

Old  Quaker  Meeting-House  Built  in  1786    .         .         .     197 

North  Adams  in   1848,   Showing  the  Third  Baptist 

Church         ........     201 

The  Walloomsac  River  above  the  Old  Red  Bridge        .     207 

Plan  of  Bennington  Township 208 

Charter  of  Bennington,  the  First  Township  Granted 

in  the  Green  Mountain  State        ....     209 

Six  Representative  Sons  of  Freedom,  Five  of  Whom 

Were  Born  at  Bennington    .....     212 


xx  Illustrations 


PAGE 


The  First  Church  of  Christ,  Bennington  Centre         .  215 

The  Walloomsac   Inn,   Built  in   1766  by   Landlord 

Elijah  Dewey 222 

The  Harmon  Inn,  Built  by  Sergt.  Daniel  Harmon 

before  the  Revolution  .....  223 

The  State  Line  Tavern,  Built  by  the  Tory  Matthews 

about  1783 225 

Eldred  Inn,  on  the  Site  of  the  Cornelius  Letcher 

Tavern 234 

The  Old  Red  Mill  of  Little  Hoos ac  Valley  .         .  236 

Family  Bible  of  Patroon  Cornelius  Van  Ness  of  St. 

Croix  Manor        .......  239 

Tibbits's  Castle  of  Nepimore  Vale,  Hoosac,  N.  Y.         .  247 

The  "Hostead"  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  ist, 

Manor  of  Old  Schaghticoke 253 

The  Family  Bible  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker     .  254 

The  Owl  Kill  of  Cambridge  Valley     ....  257 

The  Checkered  House,  Built  by  Major  James  Cowden  266 

The  Fireplace  in  the  Great  Parlor  of  the  Knicker- 
backer Mansion   .......  269 

Muster-Roll  of  the  First  Company  of  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys      275 

The  Truman  Squires  House         .         .         .         .         .  283 

The  Northern  Portal  of  Henry  Bridge,  Irish  Corners  284 

Col.  Ethan  Allen,  the  Hero  of  Fort  Ticonderoga        .  297 

Letter  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen 305 


Illustrations  xxi 

PAGE 

The  Catamount  Tavern,  First  Known  as  the  Green 

Mountain  Inn  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys         .     310 

Council  Chamber  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  in 

Catamount  Tavern        .         .         .         .         .         .311 

Catamount  Monument,  Marking  Site  of  the  Cata- 
mount Tavern  on  the  Parade  at  Bennington 
Centre,  Vermont  ......     328 

Major-General  John  Stark,  the  Hero  of  Bennington       333 

Van  Schaick's  Mill  at  St.  Croix  .....     334 

Slab  Marking  Site  of  the  British  Breastworks  on 

Each  Side  of  the  Old  Cambridge  Road  .         .     335 

The  Bennington  Battle-Field  of  the  Walloomsac 

Valley,  N.  Y 339 

Bennington  Battle  Monument    .....     349 

Camp-Kettle  of  General  Burgoyne     ....     350 

The  Joseph  Allen  House,  Old  Litchfield  Hill,  Con- 
necticut      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     369 

Ira  Allen  of  Bennington  and  Burlington         .         .     377 

The  Free  School  of  Williamstown,  Founded  by  Col. 

Ephraim  Williams 385 

Gen.  Samuel  Sloan's  Mansion,  Built  in  1801     .         .     391 

Three  Presidents  of  Williams  College    .         .         .     395 

Hopkins's    Astronomical    Observatory,   Founded   by 

Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  1838  ....     401 

The  Campus  of  Williams  College,  Looking  Eastward 

from  West  College  Hill     .         .         .         .         .     407 

Haystack  Monument,  Mission  Park,  Williamstown, 

Massachusetts     .         .         .         .         .         .         .411 


xxii  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Uncle  Abe-the-Bunter,  White  Oaks  Glen   .         .         .     415 

Making  White  Oak  Baskets  at  the  George  Adams 

Cabin  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     417 

The  Church  of  Christ,  a  Home  Mission  Chapel    .         .     429 

The  Weeping  Rock  Road  along  the  Ancient  Hoosac 

and  Mohawk  War-Trail        .....     433 

The  Old  Stone  Post  Road  East  of  White  House  Bridge    435 

Pownal  Village  in  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac 

Mountains  .......     439 

The  Seed  Works  of  Cambridge,  New  York   .         .         .     440 

Old  Continental  Road,  Left  of  the  Poplars,  South  of 

Bennington  Centre      ......     447 

The  Western  Portal  of  Hoosac  Tunnel  Mountain, 

North  Adams,  Mass.      ......     453 

The  "Tunnel  City"  of  North  Adams,  Mass.  .         .     459 

Greylock  Factory  Village,  North  Adams,  Mass.  .     460 

The  Sucker  Pond,  Summit  of  Green  Mountains  in  Stam- 
ford and  Woodford       .         .         .         .         .  463 

The    Soldiers'   Home    for  Vermont   Veterans,    Ben- 
nington          465 

The    Mowing-  and  Reaping- Machine  Shops,  Hoosac 

Falls,  New  York  ......     466 

The  "Big-Eddy"  of  Hart's  Falls  below  Schaghticoke 

Point  Bridge         .......     469 

The  State  Normal  College  and  Taconac  Hall,  North 

Adams,  Mass 473 

Memorial  Library,  McKinley  Square,  Adams,  Mass.    .     475 


Illustrations 


XXill 


All  Saints'  Chapel  and  Campus  of  Tibbits's  Hoosac 

School  for  Boys,  Hoosac,  New  York      .         .         .     477 

The  Balloon  North  Adams  .         .         .         .         .     479 

The  Iron  Tower  on  the  Bald  Summit  of  Mount  Grey- 
lock     485 

The  Bellows-Pipe  Park  Ragged  Mountains,  Reveal- 
ing the  Notch  Valley  ......     487 

Flora's  Glen,  Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  Known 

To-Day  as  Thanatopsis  Glen         ....     489 

Cascade  below  Tibbits's  School  Lake,  Hoosac,  New 

York    .........     491 

Mount  Anthony  Park  and  the  Walloomsac  Gap,  Ben- 
nington, Vermont         .         .         .         ...         .     493 

The  Hopper  Amphitheatre,  Greylock  Park  Reserva- 
tion       501 

Dr.  John  Bascom,  Orator  and  Philosopher,  Williams 

College        ........     505 


The  Arch  of  Truth,  Front  Gateway  Leading  to  the 
Knickerbacker  Mansion       ... 


507 


M^m% 


'"liiii'imww^ 


Iftlfe 


XXIV 


Map  of  the  Taconac  Region. 


XXV 


THE  HOOSAC  VALLEY 


INTRODUCTORY 

THE   HOOSAC   PASS   OF  THE   TACONAC  MOUNTAINS1 

We  should  read  history  as  little  critically  as  we  consider  the  landscape.  .  .  .  It 
is  the  morning  now  turned  evening  and  seen  in  the  west, — the  same  sun,  but  a  new 
light  and  atmosphere. — Thoreau,  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimac  Rivers. 

Legends  of  Hoosac  Pass  of  Taconacs — Cambrian  Sea — Silurian  Bay — Glacial 
Lake  Bascom — River  and  Lake  Systems — Origin  of  Mahican  Name 
Taconac. 

THE  Taconac  Mountains2  consist  of  a  broken  chain  of 
peaks,  now  but  a  fragment  of  their  original  grandeur. 
The  ruined  range  stretches  from  Fishkill-on-the-Hudson 
northeastward  two  hundred  miles  along  the  New  England 
borders  and  tapers  out  at  Brandon,  Vermont.  The  range 
varies  in  width  from  one  to  fourteen  miles,  culminating  in 
the  highest  summits  and  broadest  land-swells  on  the  upper 
Hoosac,  Walloomsac,  and  Batten  Kill.  The  Taconac  high- 
lands are  separated  from  the  Green  Mountains  by  the  Great 
Southwestern  Vermont  Valley,  that  extends  southward 
from   the   Lake   Champlain   headwaters   to  the  sources  of 

1  For  origins  of  Indian  names,  see  Note  I  at  end  of  volume. 

2  T.  Nelson  Dale:  "Geology  of  the  North  End  of  the  Taconac  Range," 
American  Journal  of  Science,  xvii.,  March,  1904;  "  Geology  of  Hudson  Valley, 
between  Hoosac  and  Kinderhook,"  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Bulletin, 
No.  242,  1904;  "Taconac  Physiography,"  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
Bulletin,  No.  272,  1905. 

1 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


the  Hoosac  and  Housatonac  valleys  in  Northern  Berkshire, 
Massachusetts. 

The  Green  Mountains  form  a  natural  divide  between  the 
Hudson-Champlain  and  Connecticut  basins.  The  streams 
flowing  from  the  east  slopes  join  the  Connecticut  River ;  the 
Hoosac,  Walloomsac,  Batten  Kill,  Mettawee,  and  Castleton 
rivers  drain  the  western  slopes,  having  made  their  devious 
westward  passage  through  more  than  forty  miles  of  the  soft 
marble  and  schist  walls  of  the  Taconacs  to  mingle  with  the 
Hudson  and  Champlain  waters. 

The  valley  of  the  Hoosac  and  the  mingling  rivers  form  a 
Cohoha  (basin-shaped  area)  nearly  forty  miles  square.  The 
Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  reach  down  to  the  800-foot  level 
above  tide-water.  The  northern  boundary  of  the  Hoosac 
basin  is  the  Walloomsac- Batten  Kill  divide  of  the  Hudson 
basin,  along  which  are  the  Vermont  towns  of  Arlington  and 
Shaftsbury.  On  the  south,  it  is  bounded  by  the  Hoosac- 
Housatonac  divide  of  the  Hudson- Connecticut  basin,  marked 
by  the  Massachusetts  towns  of  Lanesboro,  Cheshire,  and 
Hancock.  From  the  Green  Mountain  watershed  of  the 
Hudson-Connecticut  basin,  along  the  heights  of  Florida  and 
North  Adams  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  and  of  Stamford, 
Woodford,  and  Glastonbury  in  Bennington  County,  Vt.,  the 
Hoosac  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters  reaches  northwestward 
to  the  Hudson's  terraced  heights  of  Rafinesque  and  Rice, 
in  the  New  York  towns  of  Brunswick,  Lansingburgh,  and 
Schaghticoke,  Rensselaer  County,  and  Mount  Willard  in 
Easton,  Washington  County. 

The  Green  and  Taconac  mountains  are  popularly  believed 
to  be  the  same  range,  but  they  differ  widely  in  structure  and 
have  forests  peculiar  to  their  formative  rocks.  The  Green 
Mountains  are  a  strong  wall  of  quartzite,  granite,  and  iron; 
their  summits  are  covered  with  spruce  and  fir,  and  their 
slopes  and  valleys  with  hemlock,  pine,  and  mixed  wood. 


PQ 


O 


6 


U 


4  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  Taconacs  are  of  marble,  soluble  limestone,  talcs,  and 
schists.  The  schists  are  of  intermediate  hardness  and  con- 
stitute the  highest  wave-like  summits  and  the  tops  of  the 
outlying  hills  of  the  range,  which  are  clothed  with  forests  of 
beech,  birch,  maple,  oak,  and  chestnut. 

The  westward  and  southern  bends  of  both  the  Hoosac  and 
the  Walloomsac  are  due  partly  to  their  waters  striking  the 
Lower  Cambrian  quartzite  of  the  Green  Mountains  or  the 
schists  of  the  Taconacs  that  merge  with  the  softer  limestones 
and  marbles  along  the  borders  of  the  two  ranges — obstacles 
that  the  rivers  can  circumvent  but  cannot  erode. 

The  symmetrical  sand-hills  of  diluvial  formation  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  Hoosac,  Walloomsac,  and  Little  Hoosac 
mark  the  grave  of  the  ancient  Cambrian  Sea,  Silurian  Bay, 
and  the  subsequent  glacial  Lake  Bascom.  Along  the  ter- 
raced shores  are  found  conglomerates  of  limestone-breccia, 
composed  of  pre-Cambrian  beach  sand  and  small  quartzite 
pebbles.  Bryant  in  his  poem,  Earth,  describes  that  Age 
when  temperate  waters  surged  through  the  Hoosac  and 
Great  Southwestern  Vermont  and  Champlain  valleys  to  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     He  heard  that: 

Voice  of  many  tones — sent  up  from  streams 
That  wander  through  the  gloom,  from  woods  unseen 
Swayed  by  the  sweeping  of  the  tides  of  air, 
From  rocky  chasms  where  darkness  dwells  all  day. 

The  later  language  of  the  Glacial  Period  was  scratched  up 
on  the  bald  summit  of  Greylock  by  the  semi-continental  sea 
of  ice  that  bore  down  in  its  tidal  movement  from  the  crystal 
summits  of  the  Laurentian  Highlands,  located  on  the  site  of 
Niagara  Falls.  In  a  long  subsequent  period  local  glaciers 
crowned  the  Dome  of  the  Green  Mountains,  and  also  Grey- 
lock,  Mount  Anthony,  Equinox,  and  ^Eolus  of  the  Taconacs. 
Tumbling  bergs  of  ice,  freighted  with  granite,  quartzite,  and 


6  The  Hoosac  Valley 

marble  boulders  from  the  North,  were  hoisted  along  the 
terraced  shores  and  natural  dams  of  Lake  Bascom  in  the 
upper  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac,  where  the  rocks  rest  to-day. 
The  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  recognized  the  quartz  rocks 
of  light,  which  the  eye  of  morning  counts  on  the  summits, 
as  Manitou  aseniah  (Spirit-stones). 

The  lower  natural  dam  of  the  glacial  Lake  Bascom  was 
located  somewhere  about  "Weeping  Rocks"  and  Kreigger 
Rocks  in  Pownal,  and  Mount  Captivity x  in  Petersburgh  on 
the  New  York  border,  and  Mount  St.  Anthony  on  the  Ver- 
mont border.  The  upper  dam  lay  between  Mount  St. 
Anthony  in  Bennington,  and  Baum's  Height  in  White 
Creek,  on  the  New  York  border.  Subterranean  rivers 
flowed  for  a  time  through  the  caves  of  St.  Anthony  and 
Mount  iEolus  and  served  as  outlets  of  the  lake  until  the 
final  breaking  away  of  the  rocky  arches  spanning  the  Hoosac 
and  Walloomsac  passes  of  theTaconac  Mountains.  After 
the  greater  volume  of  water  rippling  about  the  conical 
summit  of  St.  Anthony,  drained  from  the  highlands,  the 
Hoosac  and  Walloomsac'  river  and  lake  system  took  place. 
Ten  thousand  years  ago,  according  to  its  terraced  shores, 
observed  by  geologist  Dale,  about  the  base  of  Grey  lock  on 
the  upper  Hoosac,  and  Equinox  and  ^Eolus  on  the  upper 
Walloomsac  and  Batten  Kill,  Lake  Bascom  had  a  depth  of 
six  hundred  feet.  The  Hoosac  lake  was  connected  by  an 
overflowing  stream  from  the  upper  Walloomsac  at  Pownal 
Centre  that  eroded  the  gorges  about  Kreigger  Rocks,  at 
North  Pownal;  and  St.  Anthony's  subterranean  river,  now 
known  as  Wash  Tub  Brook. 

The  sand-hills  of  glacial  drift,  observed  on  the  head- 
waters of  all  the  little  rivers  of  the  Hoosac  Valley, 
mark  the  site  of  a  successive  chain  of  lakes.     The  mounds 

1  Christened  after  "  Captivity"  Smead,  one  of  Fort  Massachusetts'  cap- 
tives born  in  the  shadow  of  the  mountain,  August  21,  1746.   See  Chapter  VI. 


Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains        7 

were  used  as  burial-places  by  the  prehistoric  Indian  race  that 
roamed  through  that  section.  The  myth  has  been  preserved 
by  Whit  tier  in  his  poem  The  Grave  by  the  Lake. 

The  Greylock-Stratton  and  the  ^Eolus- Equinox  spurs  of 
the  main  Taconac  Range  are  fourteen  miles  in  width,  and 
their  summits  rise  3505  to  3795  feet  above  sea  level.  The 
eastern  face  of  the  range  is  very  steep,  while  the  western 
slopes  are  gradual  in  their  descent.  Mount  St.  Anthony 
rises  2345  feet  above  tide-water  and  stands  like  a  lonely 
sentinel  guarding  the  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  passes.  It 
is  the  only  connecting  link  between  Mount  Captivity,  on 
the  New  York  border,  and  Equinox  and  ^Eolus,  in  the 
northern  Walloomsac  Gap  of  Vermont. 

The  Hoosacs  Lake  District  is  located  on  the  Rensselaer 
Plateau  west  of  the  Taconac  Range.  The  region  contains 
twenty-five  lakes,  fed  by  bubbling  sand  springs,  lying  on 
the  south  between  the  Little  Hoosac  and  Tomhannac  divide 
of  the  Kinderhook  Valley,  marked  by  the  towns  of  Berlin, 
Grafton,  and  Brunswick  in  Rensselaer  County;  and  on  the 
north,  between  the  Owl  Kill  and  Batten  Kill  divide,  adja- 
cent to  the  towns  of  Jackson,  Cambridge,  and  White  Creek 
in  Washington  County,  New  York. 

The  sparkling  wonders  of  Rensselaer  Plains  consist  of 
conglomerates  of  beach  sand,  intermixed  with  pebbles  and 
small  boulders  of  quartz,  and  shales  and  grits,  which  form 
a  clayey  soil.  The  olive  shale  ledges  weather  bright  brick- 
red,  and  are  mixed  with  purple  and  white  quartz  and  bluish 
belts  of  rock  that  contain  several  species  of  marine  fossils. 
The  olive  shales  begin  near  Lake  Ida,  east  of  the  city  of 
Troy,  pass  northeast  through  Schaghticoke,  and  reappear 
among  the  Cambridge  hills  in  the  Owl  Kill  Valley. 

The  limestone-breccia  ledge  near  Oakwood  Cemetery, 
east  of  Lansingburgh  Station,  contains  a  vein  of  quartz- 
crystal  known  to  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  as  Manitou 


8  The  Hoosac  Valley 

aseniah  (Spirit  -  stone) .  The  Dutch  and  French  of  Rens- 
selaerwyck  called  it  "Stone  Arabia,"  and  the  English, 
"Diamond  Rock."  The  Hoosac  Kitsmac  (powwow  priest) 
used  the  quartz-crystal  to  carve  symbols  of  the  Wakon-bird 
(Spirit-dove)  to  appease  the  Moodus  upheavals  of  Hobba- 
mocko  (the  god  of  thunder). 

The  ancient  legend  of  the  Rensselaer  Plateau  reveals  that 
many  million  years  ago  during  the  Lower  Cambrian  and 
Ordovician  or  Hudson  time,  the  region  was  submerged  by 
three  successive  shallow  seas.  The  recession  of  those  waters 
was  followed  by  three  crust al  upheavals  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face; one  of  these,  in  the  Hudson  Age,  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  Green  and  Taconac  mountain  ranges. 
The  Cambrian  Sea  then  receded  westward  to  the  longitude 
of  the  Hudson  and  left  the  Rensselaer  and  Washington 
hills  denuded.  Later,  after  the  Glacial  Period,  the  lake 
and  river  systems  of  the  Little  Hoosac,  Tomhannac,  and 
Owl  Kill  took  place. 

The  Lower  Cambrian  quartzite  of  the  Green  Mountains 
is  the  oldest  outcropping  rock  of  the  Hoosac  Valley.  It 
is  formed  of  beach  sand  and  pebbles,  accompanied  by 
conglomerate  or  "pudding-stone"  cliffs.  The  St.  Francis 
Ledge  of  Lower  Cambrian  quartzite,  north  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts Meadow  and  in  the  Braytonville  pass  of  the  rail- 
road, underlies  the  Greylock  Range,  and  reappears  again 
on  Monument  Mountain  in  Old  Stockbridge,  where  the 
Green  Mountain  rock  tapers  out. 

The  accompanying  "pudding-stone"  cliffs  may  be  ob- 
served overhanging  the  highway  at  "Weeping  Rocks"  in  the 
Hoosac  Pass  of  Pownal ;  on  Stone  Hill  in  Williamstown ;  near 
Bennington  Falls  on  the  Walloomsac;  about  the  "Devil's 
Chimney,"  near  the  "Fallen-hill,"  in  Old  Schaghticoke  on 
the  lower  Hoosac;  and  throughout  Tomhannac  and  Owl 
Kill    valleys   of    Rensselaer    Plateau.     The    conglomerate 


Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains       9 

ledges,  according  to  geologists,  are  the  products  of  sea-ero- 
sion, of  the  pre-Cambrian  land  surface  on  the  site  of  Hoosac 
Valley,  before  the  upheaval  of  the  Green  and  Taconac 
mountain  ranges.     Overlying  this  pre-Cambrian  seashore 


Hobbamocko's  Shrine.     An  Upheaval  of  Lower  Cambrian  Quartzite  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Bedrock  on  Rattlesnake  Ledge  of  the  Domelet,  Pownal,  Vermont. 


about  " Weeping  Rocks"  in  Pownal,  may  be  observed  the 
subsequent  Taconac  schists  and  limestone  of  the  Hudson 
Age.  On  Rattlesnake  Ledge  of  the  Domelet  a  mile  and 
a  half  east  of  "Weeping  Rocks"  is  found  an  upheaval  of 
the  Lower  Cambrian  quartzite  rock  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tains, thrust  up  later  through  the  overlying  Taconac 
limestones. 

That  quartzite  upheaval  resulted  in  forming  Mount  (Eta 
(Mason  Hill)  and  the  Domelet,  and  caused  vertical  fissures 


io  The  Hoosac  Valley 

or  caves  which,  according  to  geologist  Dale, *  allow  the  sur- 
face water  of  the  region  to  descend  to  a  depth  of  1500  feet. 
The  water  becomes  heated  and  charged  with  gases,  and 
bubbles  to  the  surface  again  in  the  thermal  Sand  Springs 
two  miles  south  in  Williamstown.  The  Mahicans  recog- 
nized the  Moodus2  upheaval  of  distorted  blocks  of  rock  and 
cast  sacrificial  stones  in  a  heap  in  such  noisy  places  to  appease 
the  evil  spirit  of  calamity. 

The  later  legend  of  the  Hoosacs  Taconac  Lake  region  of 
Rensselaer  Plains  reveals  that  the  widest  part  of  the  Silurian 
Bay  extended  for  a  time  over  the  hills  of  Grafton,  Brunswick, 
and  Pittstown.  The  only  remnants  of  the  ancient  seas, 
bays,  and  later  glacial  lakes  are  found  in  the  lakelets  on  the 
plateau  800  to  1500  feet  above  tide-water,  fed  by  bubbling 
springs,  ranging  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half 
in  length.  The  largest  of  these  are  Long  Pond,  Lake  Bab- 
cock,  and  Lake  Taconac. 

The  Taconac  and  Green  Mountain  bed-rocks  were  first 
studied  by  geologist  Amos  Eaton  and  his  pupils,  Ebenezer 
Emmons  and  Albert  Hopkins  of  Williams  College.  Dr. 
Emmons  studied  the  Lower  Cambrian  upheavals  of  quart- 
zite  on  "Stone  Cobble"  (Mount  Emmons  of  Alberta's 
Range)  east  of  Williamstown,  and  reported  his  scientific 
discovery  of  the  Taghkanic  System  in  1838.  His  theory 
called  forth  the  ridicule  of  eminent  geologists,  but  in  1846 
he  published  positive  proof  of  his  discovery,  observed  in  a 
fissure  south  of  Berlin  Pass  on  Mount  Hopkins,  west  of 
Williamstown  on  the  main  Taconac  Range.  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Emmons 3  is  to-day  acknowledged  the  founder  of  the  Taconac 
System  in  geology. 

XT.  Nelson  Dale,  Geological  History  of  Mount  Greylock,  1906,  pp.  10-11. 
Read  before  Berkshire  Hist,  and  Sci.  Soc.  at  Pittsfield,  Feb.  6,  1900. 

3  C.  Burr  Todd,  "Geology  of  Mount  Tom  or  Mount  Moodus,"  Olde  Connec- 
ticut, xi.,  p.  151. 

3  Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopedia,  1861. 


Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains      n 

The  designation  Taconac,  according  to  the  Mahican  and 
Mohawk  dialects,  comes  from  the  term,  Tohkone,  Tachan, 
and  Taghkan,  followed  by  the  affix,  i.e.,  izen,  and  ic  or 
ac,  signifying  woodsy,  rocky  mountain-place.  The  term 
Tohkonac,  according  to  historian  Ruttenber,  first  designated 
a  bubbling  sand  spring  west  of  the  Taconac  Range  near 
Copake  Lake  on  Livingston's  "Taghkanick  Tract,"  pur- 
chased from  the  Mahicans  in  1683.  The  Dutch,  French, 
and  the  English  later  pronounced  the  name,  Tomhennich  and 
Tomhannock,  designating  the  creek  draining  the  Hoosacs 
Taconac  Lake  region  of  Rensselaer  Plains.  The  terms, 
Ket-Tar  and  K ta-kanat-shan,  according  to  J.  Hammond 
Trumbull  of  Hartford,  signify  "great  woodsy  mountains" 
strewn  with  boulders  and  full  of  caves  and  sand  springs. 
The  name  Taconac  has  fifty  different  spellings  in  the  Albany 
Archives. 

Nowhere  in  the  Taconac  Range  are  its  typical  fea- 
tures of  erosion  more  striking  than  along  the  banks  of 
the  Hoosac  and  its  numerous  branches.  The  Hoosac 
falls  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in  its  devious 
northwest  passage  of  twenty-five  miles  from  the  base  of 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Mountain  in  North  Adams,  Mass., 
to  its  union  with  the  Walloomsac  near  Hoosac  Junction, 
New  York. 

The  largest  falls  on  Hoosac  River  are  those  of  "Falls 
Quequick  or  Quiquek"1  in  the  Village  of  Hoosac  Falls,  and 
Hart's  Falls  in  Schaghticoke  Village.  The  latter  descends 
one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  a  run  of  less  than  two  miles, 
between  Schaghticoke  Point  highway  bridge  and  the 
V Devil's  Chimney, "  opposite  the  "Fallen-hill."  The  "Big- 
Eddy,"  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  the  bridge,  turns  abruptly 
south  and  enters  a  gorge  which  is  from  one  to  two  hundred 

1  Canis's  Report  of  Hoosack  Patent  III:  "Quick-Quick,"  query  for  analogy 
hunters. 


12  The  Hoosac  Valley 

feet  deep  and  about  one  hundred  feet  wide  in  places.  In  the 
wild  course  of  the  ravine  the  Hoosac  falls  one  hundred  feet 
and  glides  through  "  Heirs-gate,"  a  narrow  pass  not  over 
twelve  feet  wide.  Many  Cohohas  (cradle-hollows,  or  pot- 
holes) appear  in  the  harder  schistose  rocks  of  the  gorge,  used 
by  the  Hoosac  squaws  as  mortars  in  which  to  pound  corn 
with  stone-pestles.  The  perpendicular  cliffs  on  either  bank 
of  "Hell's-gate"  are  scaled  by  hemlocks,  cedars,  and  rare 
walking-ferns,  cliff-brakes,  and  spleenworts. 

Below  "Hell's-gate"  the  river  bends  west  and  north  and 
forms  a  perfect  ox-bow,  enclosing  a  strip  of  land  on  the  north 
bank  called  "Buck's-neck" — a  resort  for  deer,  opposite  the 
Mahicans'  "Indian-square"  camp-ground.  The  stream 
takes  many  a  wild  bend  and  tumble  before  it  forms  the 
musical  falls  above  and  below  the  sacrificial  altar  of  Hobba- 
mocko,  known  as  the  "Devil's  Chimney,"  opposite  the 
"Fallen-hill."  It  finally  turns  south  westward  through  the 
"Vale  of  Peace"  before  it  resumes  its  constantly  widening 
northwest  course.  At  last,  in  full  view  of  the  Hudson, 
opposite  the  village  of  Stillwater,  the  Hoosac  strikes  the 
rocky  terraces  that  separate  its  waters  from  those  of  the 
lordly  stream  beyond,  and  is  turned  abruptly  south.  Before 
the  Hoosac  blends  with  the  grand  river  of  the  mountains, 
however,  it  is  greeted  by  the  Dwaas  Kill,  an  overflowing 
stream  of  the  Hudson  which,  as  the  Dutch  name  implies, 
runs  both  ways.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  this  little 
stream  running  north  at  sunrise  and  south  at  sunset,  its 
upward  course  depending  upon  the  swollen  currents  of  the 
Hoosac  after  freshets  or  cloudbursts  in  the  highlands. 

Beyond  the  Dwaas  Kill,  the  Hoosac  glides  between 
impressive  perpendicular  walls  of  glacial  drift,  thirty  feet 
high,  and  finally  flows  through  a  rocky  portal,  sixty  or  more 
feet  wide,  and  mingles  with  the  deep,  still  waters  of  the 
Hudson. 


Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains      13 

The  cradle-song  of  thy  hillside  fountains 

Here  in  thy  glory  and  strength  repeat ; 
Give  us  a  strain  of  thy  upland  music, 

Show  us  the  dance  of  thy  silvery  feet. 

Sing  on!  bring  down,  O  lowland  river, 

The  joy  of  the  hills  to  the  waiting  sea ; 
The  wealth  of  the  vales,  the  pomp  of  the  mountains, 

The  breath  of  the  woodlands  bear  with  thee ! 


CHAPTER  I 


THE  HOOSACS    HUNTING-GROUNDS  AND  LEGEND  OF  ST.  CROIX 

I 54O-I 669 

The  doomed  Indian  leaves  behind  no  trace, 

To  save  his  own  or  serve  another  race. 

With  his  frail  breath  his  power  has  passed  away; 

His  deeds,  his  thoughts,  are  buried  with  his  clay; 

His  heraldry  is  but  a  broken  bow, 

His  history  but  a  tale  of  wrong  and  woe, 

His  very  name  must  be  a  blank. 

Sprague. 

Legend  of  St.  Croix — Advent  of  Allefonsce's  French  Traders,  1 540-1 542 — 
Champlain's  French  Jesuits,  1609 — Hudson's  English  Pilgrims  and  Dutch 
Boers,  1609-1615 — Mey's  French  Walloons,  1624 — Abenakis  Democracy 
— King  Aepjen — Owl  Soquon  of  Hoosac  Valley — Hero  Maquon  of  Mahi- 
cansac  Valley — Abenakis  Cantons — Castles — Villages  and  Planting- 
Grounds — Mohawk  and  Hoosac  War,  1 609-1 669 — Victory  of  Soquon 
and  Maquon  over  Kryn's  Mohawks — The  Hoosacs'  and  Mahicansacs' 
Burial-Fields — Moodus  Pow-wows  to  Great  Manitou  and  Great  Hob- 
bamocko. 

THE  Hoosacs'  golden  legend  of  St.  Croix — the  Holy 
Cross,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Walloomsac  with 
the  Hoosac — undoubtedly  originated  during  the  visits  of 
Allefonsce's1  French  fur- traders  from  St.  Ange  to  their 
hunting-grounds,  between  1 540  and  1 542.  This  myth  throws 
back  the  Delaware  and  Mahican  traditions  nearly  three 
centuries,  to  the  time  of  Modoc's  voyage  to  America,  in 
1 1 70.  The  story  of  Modoc  has  often  been  repeated  in  con- 
nection with  the  possible  existence,  at  an  early  date,  of 
Welsh  colonies  on  our  continent. 

1  Cuyler  Reynolds,  Albany  Chronicles,  pp.  6,  16,  17,  79. 

14 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  15 

In  1524  came  the  Italian  explorer,  Verrazzano,  and  his 
French  crew  from  Dieppe,  on  the  dove-like  ship,  La  Dau- 
phine.  Verrazzano  visited  the  Manhattanese  village  on 
Governor  Island  and  christened  the  Mahicansac — the 
Grande  River.  The  following  season,  the  Spanish  naviga- 
tor, Gomez,  on  his  voyage  to  Florida,  passed  the  Manhattan 
Bay,  although  neither  of  these  discoverers  attempted  to 
locate  in  the  region. 

Jean  Allefonsce's  fur- traders  from  St.  Ange,  France,  settled 
at  Chescodonta  in  1540,  and  began  a  stone  chateau  on 
Castle  Island,  opposite  the  site  of  Albany,  but  it  was  swept 
away  by  high  water  before  completion.  A  Jesuit  Father 
later  accompanied  the  traders  up  the  river  to  Niskayuna, 
the  willow  flats  of  Green  Island,  and  christened  it  St.  Ange — 
place  of  the  Holy  Angel,  still  known  as  Nastagione. 

The  same  season  the  St.  Ange  traders  visited  the  Uk- 
hooKs  (Owl's  or  Orator's)  Tioshoke  cornfield,  near  the  Ticon- 
deroga  trail,  at  the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill  with  the  Hoosac 
River.  Partridge  berries  and  strawberries  grew  along  the 
edges  of  the  fields,  and  grape-vines  embowered  the  oak  and 
pine  groves.  The  Owl,  Captain  Soquon  of  the  Hoosac 
Bears,  and  the  Hero,  Captain  Maquon  of  the  Mahicansac 
Wolves,  feasted  on  bear,  wolf,  venison,  corn-cake,  squash,  or 
pumpkin,  known  as  vine-apple,  and  succotash.  They 
quenched  their  thirst  with  water  from  the  hillside  fountains 
and  knew  nothing  of  grape-juice  or  crab-apple  brandy  or  the 
lightning  weapons  of  the  sky  until  the  arrival  of  the  French, 
English,  and  Dutch  Christians  in  1609. 

The  Kitsmac  (pow-wow  priest)  of  the  Hoosacs  pointed 
out  the  Great  Manitoit s-swastika  (Spirit's-cross)  formed  by 
the  junction  of  the  two  large  rivers  from  the  mountains 
above  Soquon's  Tioshoke  village.  The  Jesuit  Father  at 
once  recognized  the  ancient  Egyptians'  cross  of  good  luck 
used  as  a  symbol  by  Indian  nations  to  ward  off  the  Chin-dee 


16  The  Hoosac  Valley 

(evil-eye  of  the  fiend  of  calamity).  He  blessed  the  mingling 
waters  and  hoisted  the  Roman  Catholic  banner  St.  Croix 
(Holy  Cross),  on  the  high  terrace  overlooking  the  valley. 
The  traders  later  built  the  palisaded  castle  St.  Croix  and 
founded  a  forest  chapel  in  memory  of  the  missionary,  St. 
Antoine  of  Padua.  The  ceremony  was  long  remembered 
by  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  after  the  St.  Ange  crew  de- 
parted in  1542.  The  names  St.  Ange,  St.  Onetho,  St.  Croix, 
and  St.  Antoine,  still  cling  to  the  Vale  of  the  Holy  Cross 
of  central  Hoosac  and  to  Mount  St.  Anthony  of  Benning- 
ton, in  whose  shadow  St.  Antoine' s  chapel  undoubtedly 
stood. 

The  Maquaas — Bears  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy — 
began  to  war  with  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahicans,  according 
to  tradition,  about  1542,  and  fought  until  about  1595  when 
they  forced  Uncus  and  Passaconaway  to  retire  from  Chesco- 
donta  Castle  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy.  Soon  after  the 
arrival  of  the  French  navigator,  Champlain,  at  Ticonderoga 
on  the  headwaters  of  the  lake  bearing  his  name,  in  July 
1609,  and  of  Hendrik  Hudson  and  his  Dutch  crew  of  the 
ship,  Half  Moon,  at  Chescodonta,  in  September  of  the 
same  season,  King  Aepjen,  a  nephew  of  Uncus,  succeeded 
to  the  democratical  office  of  Great  Sachem  and  occupied 
Schodac  Castle,  the  site  of  Castleton,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Hudson. 

The  King  welcomed  Hudson  as  Onetho  returned  from  St. 
Ange — the  country  of  angels  beyond  the  sea.  He  invited 
Hudson's  mate,  Robert  Juet,  to  his  Schodac  Castle  and 
served  him  the  customary  feast  of  honor  to  friends.  The 
repast  consisted  of  a  pair  of  white  doves — peace  symbols  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  roasted  wolf  or  dog — symbolic  of  the 
supernatural  power  of  his  Mahican  Heroes  in  war.  The 
King  begged  Juet  to  abide  with  him  and  expressed  his 
friendliness  and  trust  by  ordering  his  war  captains,  Soquon 


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18  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  Maquon,  to  break  the  string  of  their  bows  and  throw 
their  arrows  into  the  fire. 

Hudson  returned  the  Mahicans'  feast  on  board  the  ship, 
Half  Moon,  and  served  much  aqua-vita  (grape- juice)  and 
Holland  tobacco,  the  customary  feast  of  Christian  nations. 
The  King  became  merry  and  confided  his  sorrows  and  his 
joys,  and  he  considered  aqua-vita  the  Great  Manitou's 
"  spirit  waters  of  paradise,"  and  Hudson's  Delft  pipe  the 
Calumet  (pipe  of  peace) .  Robert  Juet  recorded  this  ignoble 
feast  in  his  Journal  of  the  Half  Moon  as  a  "dry  joke "  played 
upon  the  savages  in  order  to  discover  if  there  was  any 
"treachery"  in  their  natures. 

Meanwhile  the  boatmen  of  the  Half  Moon  explored  the 
Grande  River  as  far  north  as  Cohoes  Falls  of  the  Mohawk, 
in  search  of  a  route  to  India.  They  christened  the  crescent- 
shaped  Haver  Island,  the  site  of  Castle  Moenemines  of 
Maquon's  Mahicansac  Heroes,  Halve-Maen,  in  honor  of 
their  ship.  The  names  Half  Moon  and  Crescent  still  cling 
to  that  region.  Before  Hudson  set  sail  for  England  and 
Holland  he  presented  the  Mahicans  and  Hoosacs  with  axes, 
hoes,  and  stockings,  and  promised  to  return  to  them  after 
a  dozen  moons.  He  accepted  their  tokens  of  skins  and  belts 
of  wampum,  interwoven  with  symbols  of  the  Swastika  and 
Wakon-bird. 

"In  the  year  1610  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Sir  Dudley  Digges, 
and  Master  John  Westenholm,  with  others  of  their  friends, 
furnished  out  the  said  Henry  Hudson  to  try  if,  through  any 
of  the  passages  which  Davis  saw,  any  passage  might  be  found 
to  the  other  ocean  called  the  South  Sea." 

Hudson  visited  the  Abenakis  King  at  Schodac,  and  his 
English  crew  put  handles  in  the  Dutch  axes  and  hoes  that 
the  councillors  had  worn  lovingly  as  ornaments  about  their 
necks.  They  taught  the  warriors  to  fell  the  oak  forests  and 
mellow  the  cornfield,  and  after  the  savages  beheld  the  su- 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  19 

perior  wisdom  of  the  Christians,  they  made  the  woodlands 
ring  with  their  musical  laughter  over  their  own  stupidity. 

The  same  season  Hudson  sailed  North,  where  he  discov- 
ered the  bay  bearing  his  name,  and  there  he  desired  to 
winter.  A  mutiny  arose  and  he  and  his  son  and  seven  of 
his  faithful  crew  were  abandoned  and  perished  in  this  inhos- 
pitable region.  By  the  home  speeding  ship  Abacuck  Pricket, 
one  of  the  crew  confined  in  the  ship's  cabin  with  rheumatism 
at  the  time,  recorded  that:  "Henrie  Hudson,  John  Hudson, 
Arnold  Lodlo,  Sidrack  Faner,  Philip  Stafle,  Thomas  Wood- 
house  or  Wydhouse,  Adam  Moore,  Henrie  King,  and  Michael 
Bute"  were  placed  in  a  shallop  supplied  with  guns,  ammuni- 
tion, fuel,  iron-pot,  and  some  meal.  Henry  Hudson,  a  son 
of  the  navigator,  later  became  a  sea-captain  and  settled  in 
the  Mahicans'  canton.  A  lineal  descendant  of  about  the 
tenth  generation  bearing  the  name,  Henry  Hudson,  at 
present  resides  in  the  city  of  North  Adams  on  the  upper 
Hoosac. 

The  Amsterdam  merchants  of  Holland  in  161 5,  with  an 
eye  to  business,  sent  several  Protestant  Dutch  Boers  to  take 
possession  of  Hudson's  Mahicansac  Valley.  Capt.  Hendrik 
Corstiaensen  built  Fort  Nassoureen  on  Castle  Island  at 
Chescodonta,  which  was  swept  away  by  a  freshet  in  161 8. 
However,  in  March  1624,  thirty  Protestant  families  of  French 
Walloons  from  the  Rhone  Valley,  set  sail  on  Mey's  ship,  Nieu 
Nederlandt,  from  Amsterdam,  and  eighteen  families  joined 
the  Boers.  They  located  in  the  pine  groves  of  Greenbush, 
near  the  site  of  Fort  Crailo,  and  in  June  built  Fort  Aurania 
on  the  site  of  Albany. 

The  Mohawk  King,  jealous  of  the  Mahican  King  Aepjen's 
alliance  with  the  Christians,  began  to  molest  his  Hoosacs 
and  Mahicansacs  and  in  1628  drove  them  from  their  Sara- 
toga fishing- weirs  and  Hoosac  hunting-grounds.  The  Wal- 
loons and  Boers  kept  a  covetous  eye  upon  the  Mahicans' 


20  The  Hoosac  Valley 

deserted  cornfields,  and  Dominie  Michaelous  of  Esopus,  now 
Kingston,  recorded  in  1630  that:  The  Hoosacs  and  Mahican- 
sacs  have  fled  and  "  their  lands  are  unoccupied,  and  they 
are  very  fertile  and  pleasant."  The  Walloons  hunted  about 
Soquon's  Tioshoke  cornfield  and  noted  the  ruins  of  Fort  St. 
Croix,  built  b}^  the  St.  Ange  traders.  Later  they  christened 
St.  Croix  River,  Walloon  Creek,  and  the  Schaghticokes  sub- 
sequently deeded  the  valley  to  them  as  the  Walloomsac  Tract. 
As  recorded  in  the  Albany  Archives,  the  name  has  fifty 
different  spellings.  The  Italian  historian  Carlos  Botta1 
refers  to  the  victory  of  Bennington  in  1777  as  won  on 
"the  banks  of  the  Walloon  Creek,"  now  known  as  the 
Walloomsac. 

The  land  upon  both  banks  of  the  Hudson  during  the  first 
century  of  our  colonial  history,  therefore,  was  controlled 
by  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs,  subject  to  the  Schodac 
Council  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy  until  1 664. 

The  Lenni-Lenape  grandfathers  of  the  race  of  Great 
Unami,  or  Turtles,  originally  resided  on  the  shores  of  Dela- 
ware and  Manhattan  bays.  According  to  the  Abenakis 
traditions,  they  claimed  relation  to  a  fabled  tortoise — the 
Atlas  of  their  mythology — represented  as  bearing  an  island, 
as  they  termed  the  earth,  on  his  back.  The  Kitsmac 
seers  attributed  the  moodus- jargon  noises  of  thunder  and 
earthquakes  to  the  anger  of  the  monster  turtle,  jarring  the 
earth  on  his  shoulders.  They  recognized  him  as  Hobba- 
mocko  (the  Devil)  and  he  was  worshipped  as  the  god  of 
thunder. 

Revolting  bands  of  Turtles  and  Snakes  ascended  the 
rivers  of  the  mountains  at  an  unknown  day,  fighting  their 
way  to  their  kindred,  the  Bears  and  Wolves,  about  Chesco- 
donta  on  the  Hudson,  and  Hochelaga  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

1  Carlos  Botta,  History  of  the  War  of  Independence,  Book  viii.,  p.  34. 
George  A.  Otis,   Trans.,  1826. 


THE  COUNTRY 
EAST  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

dCCUPIED  BY  THE  INDIANS 
I609-17O9 

LONG.    tV.    fROM    WASHIN^TOH 


21 


22  The  Hoosac  Valley 

One  powerful  canton  would  hold  the  hunting-grounds  of  the 
Catskills  and  Helderbergs,  or  the  Taconacs,  Adirondacks, 
Green,  and  White  mountains,  for  a  time,  until  dispersed  by 
a  stronger  race.  These  national  conquests  resulted  in  the 
Mahicansac  Heroes  taking  possession  of  Hudson  Valley. 
The  isolated  mixed  sub-tribes  of  necessity  soon  modified  the 
original  musical  tongue  of  their  Lenni-Lenape  grandfathers. 

The  three  great  totemic  cantons  of  Delaware  Turtles, 
Bears,  and  Wolves  of  Northeastern  North  America,  spoken 
of  as  the  Algonquin  Race — men  of  the  musical  language  of 
Great  Unami — recognized  each  other  as  members  of  the 
Abenakis  Democracy.  They  were  enemies  of  the  Huron 
Turtles,  Bears,  and  Wolves  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy  of 
the  Great  Lake  and  Mohawk  basins  of  the  Northwest. 

The  Lenni-Lenapes,  known  also  as  Minquas,  bore  the 
totem  of  Great  Unami,  a  fabled  tortoise  having  a  wild  call 
— aqua-machukes.  The  Hoosacs  bore  the  crest  of  Great 
Soqui,  a  fabled  bear  having  a  peculiar  call — so-quis,  x- — under 
the  nation's  Uk-hooh — Owl  Soquon;  the  Mahicansacs  bore 
the  crest  of  Great  Minsi — a  supernatural  wolf  whose  utter- 
ance was  ma-hi-can,  under  the  nation's  Hero  Maquon. 

Great  Soqui  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  leading  military 
canton,  and  the  Wi-gow-wauw  (great  sachem  or  king)  was 
chosen  from  the  noble  family  of  this  race.  The  office 
vacated  by  death  of  the  king,  or  any  other  cause,  descended 
successively  to  his  nephew — a  sister's  child — chosen  by  the 
vote  of  the  Delaware,  Mahican,  and  Algonquin  councillors, 
at  Chescodonta2  or  Schodac3  We-ko-wohum  (castle  of  the 
Abenakis  Democracy).4     Chescodonta,  according  to  tradi- 

xSe-quins  on  Map  of  1614. 

2  Chescodonta  =  Ischoda,  straw-meadow;  on-akee,  hill-place,  signifying 
the  Hill  of  Great  Council- Fire  of  Abenakis  Democracy. 

3  Schodac  =  Esquatac,  Great  Fire-Place  of  Abenakis  Nation. 
*  Electa  F.  Jones,  Stockbridge,  Past  and  Present,  p.  20,  1854. 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  23 

tion,  occupied  the  site  of  Albany  Capitol  between  1540  and 
1595,  under  Uncus  and  Passaconaway.  Schodac,  the  site  of 
Castleton,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  was  occupied  by 


Figurative  Map  of  New  Netherland  in  1614. 
This  Map  was  prepared  by  Capt.  Adriaen  Block  and  covers  that  portion  of 
New  England  explored  by  him.  The  ancient  names  of  the  Hudson  and  Connecti- 
cut rivers,  as  well  as  the  totemic  designations  of  the  military  cantons  of  the  Aben- 
akis  Democracy  and  Iroquois  Confederacy  are  discernible.  The  Abenakis 
Castles  Mcenemines  and  Unuwat  are  not  located.  They  should  have  been  indi- 
cated on  both  banks  of  the  river  Mauritius,  ten  miles  north  of  Fort  Nassoureen, 
now  the  site  of  Albany. 


Aepjen,  evidently  nephew  and  successor  of  Uncus,  in  1609. 
He  lighted  the  nation's  council-fire  on  Aepjen's,  or  Bear's 
Island,  containing  ten  acres  of  marsh  grass.  The  most 
ancient  names  of  Bear  Island  are  reported  to  be  Passapenock 
and  Mahican,  and  the  island  was  doubtless  occupied  for  a 
time  by  Passaconaway 's  Pennacook  Bears,  and  Uncus's 
Mahican  Wolves. 


24  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  Pennacooks,  Mahicans,  Horicons,  and  Nawaas  were 
dispersed,  however,  by  the  Mohawks  before  the  arrival  of 
Champlain  and  Hudson  in  1609.  The  Horicons  pushed 
north  to  Lake  Andratoroct,  now  Lake  George.  The  Penna- 
cooks and  Nawaas  located  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Connecti- 
cut ;  the  former  lighted  their  civil  council-fire  at  Pawtucket, 
where  Passaconaway,  in  1660,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years,  made  his  farewell  oration.  His  nephew 
and  successor,  Wanalancet,  commanded  the  Pennacooks  and 
lighted  his  council-fire  at  Penock,  the  site  of  Concord,  N.  H., 
in  1675.  King  Uncus  and  his  Mahicans  migrated  south  and 
located  about  Pequot  Bay  in  Connecticut,  where  roamed 
flocks  of  turkeys.  They  adopted  the  crest  of  Great  Una- 
lachti,  a  fabled  turkey,  having  a  wild  call — pe-quat,  from 
which  arose  their  new  tribal  name  Pequots. 

According  to  the  Hollander's  Map  of  161 4,  the  mixed 
Turtles,  Snakes,  and  Turkeys  were  settled  upon  the  coast 
of  Delaware  and  New  England.  East  of  the  Pequots  resided 
the  Wampanoags  about  Cape  Cod  Bay  under  Sachem  Massa- 
soit,  who  welcomed  the  English  Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower 
in  March,  1621;  north  of  them  resided  the  Maistchusaegs 
about  Massachusetts  Bay.  In  the  Lake  District  of  the 
Maine  Woods  were  the  fierce  Abnaquis;  west  of  them  dwelt 
their  kindred  Pennacooks,  and  the  Nawaas  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Connecticut  in  the  White  Mountains ;  and  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Connecticut  in  the  Green  and  Taconac  moun- 
tains resided  Uk-hooh-quethoths  (the  Owl-Bears),  known 
as  Hoosacs  and  Soquonsacs  of  Great  Soqui,  led  by  Soquon. 
Between  the  Hudson  and  Delaware,  south  of  the  Mohawk 
divide,  in  the  Helderberg  and  Catskill  mountains,  resided 
the  Maquon-paus  (the  Hero- Wolves  or  Maquonsacs)  known 
as  Minquas  and  Mahicansacs  of  Great  Unami  and  Great 
Minsi,  led  by  Maquon  or  Minichqua. 

The  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs,  therefore,  occupied  the 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  25 

Sannahagog  military  districts  on  both  banks  of  the  Hudson 
about  Cohoes  Falls.  They  controlled  castles  Unuwat  and 
Mcenemines,  and  guarded  the  portal  leading  west  to  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  and  the  trail  north  to  their  kindred  Algon- 
quins  of  Ticonderoga,  known  as  the  Adirondacks,  situated 
on  the  shores  of  the  Petonboque,  the  lake  separating  the 
Abenakis  and  Iroquois  nations. 

About  1609,  King  Aepjen  pushed  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahi- 
cansacs  up  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  invited  war.  They 
boasted  to  their  jealous  enemies  that  they  received  the  first 
kiss  of  the  morning  sun,  and  that  the  tribute  which  they 
paid  was  not  to  the  Iroquois  of  the  setting  sun.  The  name, 
Mohawk,  held  no  terror  for  the  wise  heroes  of  the  East, 
although  it  still  had  for  Uncus  and  Passaconaway,  upon 
whose  heads  a  price  was  set.  Soquon  and  Maquon  of  Great 
Soqui  and  Great  Minsi  never  yielded  in  battle  until  the  last 
drop  of  blood  of  their  enemy  was  shed.  Hawkeye,  the 
white  hunter-scout  of  Falls  Quequick  of  the  Hoosac,  men- 
tioned in  Cooper's  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  says:  "Look  to  a 
Delaware,  or  a  Mohican,  for  a  warrior!" 

The  Canadas  later  called  all  the  mixed  races  of  Abenakis 
Turtles,  Bears,  and  Wolves  of  New  York  and  New  England, 
Manhingans  (Loups,  or  wild  dogs),  owing  to  the  prevailing 
totem  of  the  Great  Minsi  (Wolf)  tattooed  on  the  warriors' 
breasts,  from  which  arose  the  present  name  Mohegan. 
These  warriors,  known  as  the  Algonquin  Race  to  the  Jesuits, 
controlled  the  Hudson-Champlain  and  Connecticut  water- 
ways from  the  environs  of  Quebec  and  Montreal  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  south  to  Delaware,  Manhattan,  Pequot,  and 
Wampanoag  bays. 

The  fugitive  King  Uncus  resided  on  the  Mohegoneck 
River  about  Pequot  Bay  and  attended  the  national  councils 
of  the  Abenakis  Democracy  at  Schodac  on  the  Hudson. 
Part  of  his  warriors,  however,  revolted  in  1636,  and  he  and 


26  The  Hoosac  Valley 

fifty  of  his  tribesmen  were  forced  to  seek  aid  of  the  Chris- 
tians about  Fort  Good  Hope.  Two  years  later  the  English 
of  Hartford  conquered  the  warring  Pequots,  and  Uncus 
formed  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Yankee  traders.  The 
fugitive  Pequots  were  forced  to  leave  their  native  valley 
Mohegoneck  and  take  another  tribal  name.  They  migrated 
east  and  lighted  their  civil  council-fire  on  the  Narrow  High- 
gansetts,  between  the  Mohegoneck  and  Varsch,  or  Fresh 
River,  of  Connecticut,  and  took  the  name  Narragansetts. 

The  Pilgrims  obtained  a  deed  of  Uncus's  Mohegoneck 
hunting-grounds  for  a  few  kegs  of  aqua-vitce,  and  he  retained 
the  tribal  name,  Mahicans,  for  his  surviving  Snake  and 
Turtle  warriors.  The  Mohegoneck  River  was  christened 
the  Thames  by  the  New  Londoners  who  arrived  in  1638. 
Uncus  lived  until  after  King  Philip's  Mahican  Revolution 
and  was  noted  for  his  love  of  wines  and  cider  brandy.  His 
brother-in-law,  Chingachgook  (Big  Snake),  migrated  to 
Falls  Quequick  in  Hoosac  Valley  and  became  the  father  of 
Uncus,  a  nephew  and  last  successor  of  King  Uncus  of  Great 
Unami.  Big  Snake  and  his  royal  son  met  the  hunter-scout, 
Leather-Stocking,  at  Falls  Quequick  village,  and  they  all 
figure  in  Cooper's  Last  of  the  Mohicans. 

Centuries  before  Champlain  and  Hudson  arrived,  the 
Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  claimed  to  have  built  fishing-weirs 
at  Ochserantogue — the  place  of  swift  waters  on  Fish  Creek, 
the  outlet  of  Lake  Saratoga.  It  became  a  national  fishing 
and  hunting-ground  for  the  people  of  the  Abenakis  Demo- 
cracy, although  the  warriors  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy 
from  the  Northwest  were  not  allowed  the  freedom  of  the 
weirs.  The  Horicons  and  Algonquins  of  Adirondack  and 
Ticonderoga  hunting-grounds  knew  Fish  Creek  as  Sa-ra-ta- 
kee — the  place  where  the  muddy  moccasin  heel  of  the  Mo- 
hawk and  Huron  Mingos  showed  on  the  rocks  about  their 
weirs.     Fish   Creek   Valley   became  known   as  the  place 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  27 

of  herring  and  a  war-trail  between  the  Mohawks  and 
Hoosacs. 

The  Iroquois  Confederacy  comprised  three  great  totemic 
cantons  of  Huron  Turtles,  Bears,  and  Wolves,  residing  in  the 
Great  Lake  and  Mohawk  basins.  The  Bears  and  Wolves 
included  six  sub-cantons  in  their  order:  Mohawks,  Tusca- 
roras,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas.  The 
Tuscaroras,  according  to  tradition,  warred  with  the  Mohawks 
and  migrated  to  North  Carolina  about  1595,  after  which  the 
Iroquois  Confederacy  comprised  only  Five  Nations.  During 
1 7 14,  the  Mohawk  King  forced  the  Tuscaroras  to  return  and 
aid  him  against  the  invading  Christians,  after  which  the 
Iroquois  Confederacy  became  known  as  the  Six  Nations. 

The  Mahicans  were  always  hereditary  enemies  of  the 
Mohawks,  and  Caniaderaunte,  the  lake  that  is  the  gate  of 
the  country,  now  Lake  Champlain,  was  from  time  immemo- 
rial the  dividing  line  between  the  two  military  cantons  of 
warring  Bears  of  the  Abenakis  and  Iroquois  nations.  After 
Champlain  aided  the  Algonquins  of  the  Adirondacks  to 
scatter  their  Mohawk  enemies  in  panic  with  his  weapons  of 
the  sky,  during  July,  1609,  the  Ticonderoga  and  Horicon 
forests  for  two  centuries  until  18 15  became  "the  dark  and 
bloody  ground"  of  warfare. 

Between  1609  and  161 6,  there  were  forty  thousand  war- 
riors of  the  Abenakis  Democracy  residing  on  the  coasts  of 
New  Netherland  and  New  England.  Daniel  Gookin,  the 
historian,  was  informed  by  a  Wampanoag  sachem  that 
thousands  died  the  latter  year  from  a  scourge  that  caused 
its  victims  to  resemble  "the  color  of  a  yellow  garment." 
King  Aepjen's  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  of  Schodac,  Unu- 
wat,  and  Mcenemines  castles  suffered  also  from  disease  and 
famine  in  1638.  It  appears  that  hundreds  died  from 
smallpox  spread  among  them  by  the  Christian  traders, 
and  were    buried   in   the    Tawasentha    (vale   of  the  many 


28  The  Hoosac  Valley 

dead)  in  the  ravine  of  Norman's  Kill  near  Castleton-on- 
the-Hudson. 

Between  the  close  of  the  Pequot  Wart  in  1638,  and  the 
English  conquest  of  the  Dutch,  in  1664,  King  Aepjen's 
warriors  usually  spent  the  winter  in  the  Hoosac  and  Housa- 
tonac  valleys.  The  royal  Schodacs  encamped  on  the  Wi- 
gow-wauw  Brook,  known  as  Nana-Apen-ahican  Creek, 
flowing  about  Monument  Mountain  in  Stockbridge,  Mass., 
on  the  Housatonac;  and  near  the  confluence  of  Wash-Tub 
Brook  with  the  Hoosac  River,  west  of  Kreigger  Rocks  in 
Pownal,  Vt.  The  latter  is  distinguished  for  its  Cohohas 
(pot-holes  or  wash-basins).  Maquon  also  occupied  the 
pine  grove  in  the  Mayoonsac  near  the  Natural  Bridge  on  the 
upper  Hoosac.  The  pine  grove  at  River  Bend  and  Sand 
Spring  camps  in  Williamstown,  and  the  Sand  Hills  on  the 
Ashawaghsac  at  the  base  of  the  "  Forbidden  Hoosac  Moun- 
tain" in  Massachusetts  proved  snug  winter  lodges.  Other 
camp-grounds  have  been  located  in  the  Walloomsac  and 
Batten  Kill  passes  of  Manchester  and  Arlington,  Vermont, 
about  the  base  of  Equinox  and  Mount  ^Eolus. 

The  warriors  resided  in  the  evergreen  forests  of  the  Ta- 
conac  passes  until  the  new  moon  of  February.  This  was  a 
harbinger  of  spring  and  the  squaws  at  once  began  to  make 
maple  sugar  and  soon  moved  their  deer-skin  tents  to  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson  and  the  shores  of  Lake  Saratoga  for 
the  fishing  season.  The  Pinxster  Festival  consisted  of  a 
feast  of  fish,  after  the  squaws  had  planted  the  corn,  bean, 
pumpkin,  and  squash  fields.  Their  warriors  then  started 
forth  on  hunting  expeditions  or  the  war-path  until  Pan's 
Festival  of  the  Pass,  held  during  the  harvest  moon  of  Octo- 
ber. This  was  a  feast  of  venison  and  corn-cake,  celebrated 
on  Pass-Apenock  Island,  now  Bear's  Island,  and  later  in 
Pan-Hoo-sac,  near  Unuwat's  castle  on  the  Hudson,  after 
which  the  warriors  returned  to  their  winter  lodges. 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  29 

Each  winter  lodge  and  summer  planting-ground  bore 
separate  names.  The  chiefs  and  petty-sagamores  held 
local  government  over  their  lodges,  except  during  times  of 
war,  when  they  were  subject  to  Soquon's  and  Maquon's 
councils  at  Unuwat  and  Mcenemines  castles. 

Numerous  planting-grounds  have  been  located  in  the 
Hoosac  Valley,  including  Soquon's  Tioshoke  cornfield  of 
twelve  acres  at  the  junction  of  Owl  Kill  with  the  Hoosac; 
the  Tohkonac  cornfield  and  orchard  on  the  hills  southwest 
of  Buttermilk  Falls  on  the  Tomhannac  Creek ;  the  Pompanac 
pumpkin  and  bean  fields  of  Mawwehu  on  the  Pumpkin  Hook, 
a  branch  of  White  Creek ;  the  Falls  Quequick  fields  of  Keep- 
erdo,  who  was  known  to  the  Dutch  as  "  Hoosac  or  Mahican 
Abraham";  the  Onakee  fields  of  Chingachgook  (Big  Snake) 
on  Indian  Hill  in  Hoosac;  Maquon's  Cohoha  cornfield  about 
the  junction  of  Wash-Tub  Brook  with  the  Hoosac  in  Pownal ; 
Orcombreight's  Wampansac  camp  on  Indian  Brook  near  the 
Council  Elm  on  Green  River,  and  Grey-Lock's  camp  about 
the  Wampanoag's  Sand  Springs  in  Williamstown.  River 
Bend  camp-ground,  in  the  pine  groves  north  of  Moody 
Bridge  in  Williamstown,  was  considered  the  most  picturesque 
lodge  on  the  Mahican  and  Mohawk  war-path  in  New  Eng- 
land, until  the  forests  were  cleared  about  1765.  Other 
planting-grounds  have  been  located  in  Arlington  and  Man- 
chester Vt.,  on  the  Walloomsac  and  Batten  Kill  headwaters. 

According  to  the  English  and  Moravian  missionaries 
under  Jonathan  Sergeant  and  the  German  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf ,  there  were  forty  Mahican  villages  located  among  the 
Green  and  Taconac  forests  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac 
and  Housatonac  valleys  between  1734  and  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War.  Chief  among  those  lodges  may  be 
mentioned  King  Aepjen's  Schaghticoke  village,  in  Sheffield, 
Mass.,  on  upper  Housatonac;  Soquon's  and  Maquon's 
Old  Schaghticoke  village,  N.  Y.,  on  lower  Hoosac,  and  Maw- 


30  The  Hoosac  Valley 

wehu's  New  Schaghticoke  village,  in  Kent,  Ct.,  on  the  lower 
Housatonac. 

Implements  of  war,  soil-cultivating  tools,  and  symbols  of 
worship,  have  been  unearthed  throughout  the  Hoosac  and 
Housatonac  valleys.  The  Skeetecook  meadow,  which  was 
the  site  of  Maquon's  Still  Water  lodge  of  the  Hoosac  and 
Mohawk  scouts,  known  as  the  River  Indians,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Hoosac  with  the  Hudson,  has  yielded  its  mixed  crop 
of  Mahican  quartz  and  Mohawk  flint  arrows,  scalping 
knives,  tomahawks,  clay  pipes,  and  hominy-pounders.  In 
the  Skatecook  meadow,  the  site  of  Soquon's  village  of 
Mingling  Waters,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Tomhannac  with 
the  Hoosac  near  the  Witenagemot  Oak,  have  been  found  sev- 
eral relics,  including  a  ceremonial  Calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace. 
It  was  long  preserved  by  the  late  Col.  William  Knicker- 
backer,  and  is  now  in  Prof.  D.  F.  Thompson's  collection  of 
Indian  relics  in  Lansingburg,  N.  Y. 

Every  burial  mound  has  yielded  its  customary  "weapons 
of  rest."  In  some  rare  instances,  a  Wakon-bird  stone,  carved 
from  quartz,  representing  a  dove  or  bird  of  paradise,  has  been 
unearthed  in  the  tombs  of  the  Kitsmac  (pow-wow  priest) ,  in- 
dicating his  holy  office.  In  the  Abenakis  King's  burial-field 
on  Indian  Hill,  near  Lake  Onota  or  Onetho,  at  Pontoosac — 
place  of  winter  deer  of  Housatonac  Valley — a  portion  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  of  the  Great  Spirit  was  unearthed  in  1815. ' 
Indian  Cemetery  and  the  Sand  Hills,  in  North  Adams; 
River  Bend  and  Sand  Spring  Grove,  in  Williamstown,  Mass. ; 
Indian  Hill,  in  Hoosac,  and  the  burial-fields  of  Old  Schagh- 
ticoke, N.  Y.,  have  also  revealed  their  "weapons  of  rest." 

The  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  War  that  began  in  1609  raged 
again  in  August,  1626.  Most  of  the  Dutch  Boers  and  French 
Walloons  of  Fort  Orange  and  Greenbush  took  to  their  flat- 
bottomed  boats  and  sailed  down  the  Hudson  to  their  New 

1  Electa  F.  Jones,  Stockbridge,  Past  and  Present,  p.  24,  1854. 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  31 

Amsterdam  kindred.  Capt.  Daniel  Van  Krieckebeek,  how- 
ever, remained  in  command  of  Fort  Orange ;  he  and  six  of  his 
soldiers  aided  Soquon  and  Maquon  of  Unuwat  and  Mcene- 
mines  castles,  against  the  ambuscades  of  the  Mohawks,  a 
mile  north  of  Fort  Orange  near  Buttermilk  Falls.  Captain 
Van  Krieckebeek  and  three  of  his  men  were  slain,  Tymen 
Bouwensen  was  roasted  and  devoured  by  the  Mohawks, 
and  the  others  were  burned  and  buried.  According  to  the 
ancient  custom  of  the  Indians,  they  reserved  "a  leg  and  an 
arm"  to  take  home  to  their  families  as  proof  that  they  had 
conquered  their  enemies. 

Nicholaes  Wassenaer,  the  historian  of  New  Amsteidam, 
recorded  that  the  savage  warfare  caused  a  depression  in  the 
fur-trade  at  Fort  Orange.  Battles  continued  to  rage  on 
both  banks  of  the  Hudson,  reaching  eastward  about  Green- 
bush  and  throughout  Kinderhook  Valley.  During  1628, 
Soquon  and  Maquon  led  their  warriors  up  the  Mohawk 
Valley  and  set  a  torch  to  the  Iroquois  castles  on  the  Great 
Flats  near  the  site  of  Schenectady.  The  Mohawks  slew 
great  numbers  and  drove  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs 
from  the  Ochserantogue  fishing-weirs  and  Schaahtecogue 
hunting-grounds.  They  forced  them  up  the  Dianondehowa 
trail,  known  as  the  Batten  Kill  Pass,  over  the  Green  Moun- 
tains to  Coos  Falls  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut. 

Here  the  Mahican  squaws  cleared  the  Coos  Meadows  and 
cultivated  corn  and  bean  fields,  while  the  warriors  took  the 
tribal  name  Coosacs  or  Soquonsacs  under  Soquon,  and  began 
to  polish  implements  of  war.  The  Moodus  war-spirit  was 
inborn  in  them  and  they  sought  revenge.  Soon  they  won  the 
ear  of  the  fugitive  Passaconaway  and  with  the  aid  of  their 
Pennacook  and  Abnaquis  kindred  of  the  East,  they  con- 
tinued to  occupy  their  native  fishing  and  hunting-grounds 
of  the  Taconacs  and  for  forty-one  years  harassed  the 
Mohawk  Mingos. 


32  The  Hoosac  Valley 

In  the  half  century  after  1615,  when  Fort  Nassoureen  was 
built  on  Castle  Island,  the  Dutch,  French,  and  English 
colonists  had  crowded  in  from  all  sides.  Continued  war- 
fare had  greatly  thinned  the  Delaware  and  Mahican  ranks, 
and  their  courage  was  so  depleted  by  rum,  their  crops  so 
scant,  and  their  fishing  and  hunting-grounds  so  ruined,  that 
King  Aepjen  of  Schodac,  in  1664,  was  forced  through  famine 
to  move  the  Abenakis  Democracy's  council-fire  eastward  to 
the  junction  of  Green  River  with  the  Housatonac,  in  Shef- 
field, Mass.  He  took  the  national  name  Skatecook  and  in 
1734  his  warriors  were  there  discovered  by  the  English 
missionaries,  Jonathan  Sergeant  and  Samuel  Hopkins. 
Aepjen's  military  council-fires  at  castles  Mcenemines  and 
Unuwat,  below  Cohoes  Falls,  and  at  Catskill  Castle  also 
ceased  to  burn  in  1662.  That  year  Gov.  Peter  Stuyvesant, 
known  as  Swannekins,  persuaded  Kryn's  Mohawks  to  make 
peace  with  the  warring  Soquonsacs.  But  instead  of  gaining 
a  reconciliation  the  Mohawks'  embassy  was  slain  near 
Soquon's  Coos  Castle. 

During  the  eventful  spring  of  1664,  Governor  Stuyvesant 
summoned  a  general  conference  of  all  the  sachems  of  the 
Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys  at  Fort  Amsterdam.  The 
Lenni-Lenape  orator  opened  the  council  with  a  prayer  to 
Hobbamocko,  or  Bachtamo  (the  evil  fiend  of  calamity); 
and  he  begged  the  Great  Manitou  also  to  aid  them  in  con- 
cluding a  treaty  of  enduring  peace  with  the  Christians. 
Again  Swannekins  advised  them  to  send  peace  commission- 
ers to  Soquon's  Coos  and  Penobscot  castles.  The  Peace  of 
Narrington  was  concluded  between  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac 
commissioners  May  14,  1664.  Governor  Stuyvesant  signed 
the  Christians'  treaty  of  peace  a  week  later,  and  this  was 
announced  by  a  salute  from  the  guns  of  Fort  Amsterdam, 
and  June  4th  was  proclaimed  Thanksgiving  Day  throughout 
New  Netherlands. 


Pieter  Stuyvesant,  the  Last  of  the  Dutch  Governors  of  New  Netherland. 
He  was  known  as  Swannekins  to  the  Delawares  and  Mohicans  and, 
after  making  peace  between  the  Hoosacs  and  Mohawks,  celebrated  the  first 
Thanksgiving  Day  in  New  Netherland  June  4th,  before  the  conquest  of  the 
English  in  July,  1664. 


33 


34  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Oaths  and  treaties,  however,  lay  lightly  on  the  Mahicans* 
conscience  and  warfare  still  raged.  An  avenging  war-party 
of  Abnaquis  from  the  Maine  Woods  joined  the  Hoosacs  and 
on  July  nth  besieged  the  Dutch  and  Kryn's  Mohawk  allies 
about  Fort  Crailo  in  Greenbush.  Abraham  Staats,  his 
wife,  and  Negro  slave  were  scalped,  and  his  mansion  left  in 
flames,  while  the  warriors  descended  to  Claverack,  plundering 
and  murdering  as  they  went.  Governor  Stuyvesant  was 
unable  to  despatch  his  Fort  Amsterdam  militia  to  aid  the 
tenants  of  Rensselaerwyck  against  the  incursions  of  the 
savages,  as  the  English  war-fleet  was  already  heard  cannon- 
ading in  New  Amsterdam  harbor.  On  July  27th,  Col. 
Richard  Nicolls  sailed  up  the  Hudson  as  far  as  Nyack  Bay ; 
Fort  Amsterdam  surrendered  to  the  Duke  of  York  and 
Albany  on  September  8th,  and  became  Fort  James. 
Colonel  Nicolls  assumed  the  office  of  Governor  of  New 
York  Province ;  and  on  September  24th  Fort  Orange  became 
Fort  Albany. 

The  English  conquest  of  Dutch  New  Netherland  aroused 
the  bitter  jealousy  of  the  French  of  New  France.  The 
Governor-General  and  his  Jesuit  chaplains  at  once  began 
to  strengthen  their  alliance  with  the  Algonquins  and  Hurons. 
Later  they  founded  a  line  of  palisaded  mission  villages 
among  the  Mahicans  of  Maine  Woods,  White  and  Green 
mountains;  and  later  assisted  the  Algonquins  of  St.  Law- 
rence to  harass  their  Mohawk  enemies.  During  the  autumn 
of  1666,  the  gouty  Marquis  De  Tracy  headed  a  band  of 
French  and  Algonquins  and  succeeded  in  burning  Kryn's 
Mohawk  Shonowe  village  and  castle.  He  hoisted  the  lilied 
flag  of  France,  and  the  Jesuit  chaplain  unfurled  the  Roman 
banner  St.  Croix,  on  a  high  pole  above  the  smouldering  ruins, 
and  thus  proclaimed  their  conquest  of  the  Mohawk  Valley. 

The  venerable  Maquon,  or  Minichqua,  then  held  a  coun- 
cil with  Soquon  at  Coos  Castle,  and  it  was  decided  that  the 


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35 


36  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Hoosacs  and  Mahicansacs  should  take  advantage  of  Kryn's 
sad  plight  and  drive  the  Mohawks  from  their  Saratoga  and 
Hoosac  hunting-grounds  forever.  Soquon  rallied  all  his 
warriors  from  the  East  and  marched  through  the  Hoosac 
Pass  of  the  Taconacs  to  Kryn's  Gandawague  village  in  the 
Mohawk  Valley.  Kryn  was  soon  humbled,  and  during  the 
early  spring  of  1667  he  was  forced  to  send  an  embassy  to  beg 
aid  from  the  hated  Canadas  against  Soquon 's  deadly  raids. 

The  Governor- General  of  New  France  despatched  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  believed  to  have  been  Pierron,  Fremin, 
Beschefer,  and  Nicholas,  who  aided  the  Mohawks  to  fortify 
the  war-trails.  They  led  the  Mohawks  up  the  Hoosac 
Valley  to  the  junction  of  the  Walloomsac,  and  it  is  believed 
that  they  built  a  palisaded  fort  and  forest  chapel  on  the  site 
of  Fort  St.  Croix,  founded  by  the  St.  Ange  traders  in  1540. 

During  the  summer  of  1668  Kryn  and  his  Mohawks  drove 
Soquon  up  the  Hoosac,  and  he  and  his  warriors  took  refuge 
beneath  Weeping  Rocks,  in  the  narrow  pass  of  Pownal. 
The  Mahicans  held  a  tradition  that  they  would  not  be  con- 
quered until  the  "rocks  wept."  That  faith  sustained  them 
during  a  century  of  conflict  with  the  Mohawks,  until  they 
sought  the  shelter  beneath  the  Pudding-stone  Cliffs  and 
beheld  the  "tear-drops"  which  flowed  from  the  mountain. 
The  pursuing  Mohawks  were  close  at  hand  and  slew  nearly 
the  whole  band  of  panic-stricken  warriors. 

Silent  they  fell  at  their  chieftain's  side, 
And  Hoosac  blushed  with  the  purple  tide. 

Here  mourn  the  rocks  a  nation's  woe, 
And  tear-drops  from  the  mountain  flow!1 

After  the  massacre  at  Weeping  Rocks,  Soquon  made  his 
escape,  torn  and  wounded,  over  the  Hoosac  Mountain  trail, 

1  Williams  College  Quarterly. 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  37 

and  sought  the  aid  of  his  kindred  Pennacooks  under  the  stern 
Wampanoag  chieftain,  Grey-Lock,  of  the  Agawam  forests 
of  Massachusetts.  During  Soquon's  final  siege  against 
Kryn's  Mohawks,  headed  possibly  by  their  Jesuit  chaplain, 
Boniface,  in  the  late  autumn  of  1669,  the  Hoosacs  and  their 
allies  burned  Fort  St.  Croix  and  the  mission  chapel  and  slew 
nearly  all  the  fleeing  Mohawks  and  their  children.  Several 
warriors  made  their  escape  up  Kayadrosseras  trail,  by  way 
of  Fish  Creek,  to  the  Mohawk  Valley.  The  last  mortal 
fight  took  place  on  a  hill  known  as  Kinaquarione,  east  of 
Hoffman  Station,  N.  Y. 

All  contemporary  records  of  the  Hoosacs'  and  Mahican- 
sacs' victory  over  Kryn's  Mohawks  were  lost.  At  best  the 
Mingos'  traditions  of  their  own  defeat,  as  well  as  the  reports 
of  the  French  Jesuits  who  aided  them,  and  the  documentary 
records  of  the  grasping  Dutch  and  English  officials  of  Fort 
Albany  and  Fort  Schenectady,  reach  back  only  to  silence 
and  fable.  Historians  usually  accept  the  Mingos'  dis- 
honest traditions  and  have  never  given  the  Hoosacs  and 
Mahicansacs  the  credit  of  their  military  prowess  or  victories. 
Father  Fremin  affirmed,  however,  that  he  baptized  fifty- 
three  Mohawks  between  1666  and  1669,  although  "  nearly 
all  of  them  had  gone  to  heaven."1 

Conclusive  proof  of  the  final  conquest  of  Soquon  and 
Maquon  over  Kryn's  Mohawks  is  found  in  the  Mahican 
title-deeds2  recorded  in  Albany,  Berkshire,  and  Bennington 
County  Clerks'  Offices  to-day,  confirming  patents  of  their 
hunting-grounds  in  Hudson  Valley,  Lakes  Saratoga,  George, 
and  Champlain,  and  the  Hoosac,  Walloomsac,  and  Batten 
Kill  basins.  Although  the  Mohawks  in  1628  claimed  the 
right  of  conquest  over  the  Hoosacs'  and  Mahicansacs'  Sara- 
toga fishing-grounds,  known  as  the  Kayonderossera  Tract, 

1  Gen.  William  Johnson,  MSS.,  pp.  170-173,  1767. 

2  Ruttenber,  History  of  Indian  Tribes  of  Hudson  River,  p.  59,  1872. 


38 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


the  Mahican  Bears  and  Wolves,  by  right  of  their  final  con- 
quest over  the  Mohawks  in  1669,  confirmed  that  tract  as 
Saratoga  Patent  to  the  Dutch  patroons  in  1682  under  Gov. 


Charter  of  New  York,  granted  by  King  Charles  II  to  his  brother  James, 
the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  March  12, 1664.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  extant  docu- 
ments of  New  York  State,  and  led  to  the  downfall  of  the  Dutch  in  1664,  and  the 
land-title  quarrels  of  1764 — resulting  in  the  Revolution  and  the  victory  of  the 
Americans  over  the  British  at  Bennington  and  Old  Saratoga  in  1777. 

Thomas  Dongan.  As  late  as  1767  the  Delaware  and  Mahi- 
can descendants  at  Old  Stockbridge  continued  to  dispute  the 
Mohawks'  right  to  deed  their  Schaghticoke  ancestors'  forests 
on  the  upper  Hudson,  "to  the  prejudice  of  the  Mohawks."1 
The  Hoosacs*  victory,  however,  was  not  purchased  without 

xGen.  William  Johnson,  MSS.,  p.  33,  1767. 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  39 

the  loss  of  brave  heroes,  and  the  death  of  their  chosen  war- 
captain,  Chekatabut  of  the  Pennacooks,  known  to  the  Eng- 
lish as  Josiah.  Historian  Drake1  quaintly  describes  him  in 
his  Book  of  the  Indians  as  "a  wise  man,  and  a  stout  man  of 
middle  stature.' ' 

The  boasted  terror  of  Kryn's  Mohawks  in  1669  vanished 
from  the  Hoosac  and  Saratoga  hunting-grounds  forever. 
Yet  the  Iroquois,  famous  for  the  dishonesty  and  treachery 
taught  them  by  their  French  allies,  patronizingly  called  the 
venerable  Maquon,  Soquon,  Grey-Lock,  and  Wanalancet, 
"squaw  sachems,"  "their  children,  and  their  nephews"; 
and  the  English  and  Dutch,  "pale-faced  dogs!" 

The  Mohawks  in  1726,  aided  by  the  white  cunning  of  the 
Yankee  Pilgrim  and  Dutch  trader,  in  the  hope  of  gaining 
territorial  supremacy,  entrapped  the  Delawares  and  Mahi- 
cans  into  signing  a  treaty  of  neutrality  in  war  against  the 
Christians.  In  1742,  at  the  Philadelphia  Council,  the 
Mohawk  orator,  Canassatiego,  exclaimed  at  last:  "We 
conquered  you,  we  made  women  of  you;  you  know  you  are 
women;  we  charge  you  to  remove  instantly;  we  don't  give 
you  liberty  to  think  about  it."  The  sachems  of  Wappan- 
achki  after  that  were  styled  women,  and  nephews  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  they  called  the  Mohawks  their  uncles.  They 
still  retained  the  prophet's  commandments  on  the  Prayer- 
stick  of  Great  Unami,  and  until  they  migrated  to  Miami 
hunting-grounds  in  Ohio  Valley,  bore  a  hominy-pestle, 
instead  of  a  tomahawk,  in  their  hands. 

The  Hoosacs'  Tawasentha  (burial-field  and  shrine  of 
sacrifice)  until  1669  occupied  the  fifteen-acre  meadow  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  opposite  the  Fallen-hill  in  Old 
Schaghticoke.  A  century  ago  a  natural  obelisk  of  limestone- 
breccia  towered  nearly  one  hundred  feet  from  the  river  bed 
beneath  the  Fallen-hill.     It  was  known  to  the  Mahicans  and 

1  Samuel  G.  Drake,  Particular  History. 


4o 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Delawares  as  Hobbamocko's  shrine,  or  the  Devil's  Chimney. 
About  this  monument  the  Mahicans  hung  offerings,  inclu- 
ding Swastika,  Calumet,  corn,  and  skins,  to  appease  the  fiend 
of  calamity  there.     After  they  moved  to  the  Mississippi 


"WW3 


Site  of  the  Devil's  Chimney,  known  to  the  Hoosacs  as  Hobbamocko's  Altar, 
at  the  base  of  the  Fallen-hill  in  Old  Schaghticoke,  New  York.  The  Tawasentha 
{Burial-Place  of  the  Many  Dead)  occupied  the  south  bank  of  the  Hoosac  opposite 
the  Fallen-hill. 

This  bank,  in  which  the  dead  were  laid, 

Was  sacred  when  its  soil  was  ours; 
Hither  the  silent  Indian  maid 

Brought  wreaths  of  beads  and  flowers, 
A  nd  the  gray  chief  and  gifted  seer 
Worshipped  the  god  of  thunders  here." 

Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 

Valley  it  remained  their  custom  to  hang  offerings  on  an  oak 
near  the  Cascade  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua  in  memory  of 
their  Witenagemot  Oak  in  their  "Vale  of  Peace."  Thomas 
Moore  in  1804  alluded  to  the  Indian's  sacrificial  legend  in  his 
poem,  The  Evil  Spirit  of  the  Woods: 


The  Hoosacs'  Hunting-Grounds  41 

Unto  the  dangerous  pass 

O'er  the  deep  and  dark  morass, 

Here  the  trembling  Indian  brings 

Belts  of  porcelain,  pipes,  and  rings, 

Tributes,  to  be  hung  in  air, 

To  the  Fiend  presiding  there! 

The  Mahicans  believed  in  the  renewal  of  the  associations 
of  this  life  beyond  the  grave.  A  small  opening  was  usually- 
left  in  the  burial  mound  for  the  flight  of  the  Wakon-bird 
(Spirit-dove),  representing  the  departing  soul.  Symbols  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  resembling  doves  or  birds  of  paradise,  were 
carved  from  quartz  by  the  seers.  They  were  known  as 
Manitou-aseniah  (Spirit-stones),  used  by  the  Kitsmac-i- 
Moodus  (pow-wow  prophet)  in  his  burial  ceremonies.  Moore 
also  mentions  the  chant  of  the  Indian  Spirit  Warble  of  the 
Wakon-bird  in  the  Manitoulin-groves : 

Breathing  all  its  holy  bloom, 
Swift  I  mount  me  on  my  plume, 
Of  my  Wakon-Bird,  and  fly 
Far  beneath  the  burning  sky. 

To  the  land  beyond  the  sea, 
Whither  happy  spirits  flee; 
Where  transformed  to  sacred  doves, 
Many  a  blessed  Indian  roves 
Through  the  air  on  wing  as  white 
As  those  wondrous  stones  of  light. 

Only  those  that  are  willing  to  follow  the  trail  of  the  Evil 
Spirit  of  the  Woods  will  breathe  the  fragrance  of  the  Hoosac's 
Manitoulin-meadow,  where,  on  the  shady  bank  of  their 
native  river,  bloom  gigantic  priests-in-the-pulpit  and  great 
Solomon' s-seals,  marking  the  mounds  of  the  departed 
sachems  of  Wappanachki. 


42  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Now  the  wheat  is  green  and  high 
On  clods  that  hid  the  warrior's  breast, 
And  scattered  in  the  furrows  lie 
The  weapons  of  his  rest; 
And  there,  in  the  loose  sand,  is  thrown 
Of  his  large  arm  the  mouldering  bone.1 

1  Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  SCHAGHTICOKES'  WITENAGEMOT  TREE 
I669-1676 

0  Vale  of  Peace!  0  haunt  serene! 
0  hill-encircled  shades! 

The  red-browed  Indian's  planted  name 

Your  blended  waters  bore, 
Though  (hey  who  erst  that  baptism  gave 
Beneath  oblivion's  blackening  wave 

Have  sunk  to  rise  no  more. 

Mrs.  Sigourney,  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbackers. 

Triumph  of  the  Hoosacs  and  Maquonsacs,  1669 — Organization  of  the  Schagh- 
ticokes,  1676 — King  Philip's  Revolution,  1 675-1 676 — Mahican  Owl 
Soquon  and  Hero  Maquon — Sachems  Grey-Lock  and  Mawwehu — ■ 
Assemblage  of  the  Wise — Planting  of  the  Witenagemot  Oak,  1676 — 
Council  Tree  of  Peace  To-day. 

AFTER  the  final  triumph  of  the  Hoosacs  and  Mahican- 
sacs  over  the  Mohawks  in  the  late  autumn  of  1669, 
Sir  Francis  Lovelace,  then  Governor  of  New  York,  visited 
Albany,  in  April,  1670,  to  make  peace  with  them  and  the 
humbled  Mohawk  sachem,  Kryn.  The  Ochserantogue 
Tract  on  both  banks  of  the  Hudson,  extending  from  Mcene- 
mines  Castle  below  Cohoes  Falls  northward  indefinitely 
to  Canada,  was  assigned  to  Maquon,  known  as  the  Hero's 
Mahicansac  Valley.  The  Schaahtecogue  Tract,  extending 
from  Unuwat  Castle  and  the  junction  of  Skatecook  Creek — 
Hoosac  River  with  the  Hudson — eastward  to  the  "  Forbidden 
Hoosac  Mountain,"  was  assigned  to  Soquon,  known  as  the 
Owl's  Hoosac  Valley. 

The  same  spring  the  defeated  Jesuit  Fathers  founded  the 

43 


44  The  Hoosac  Valley 

beautiful  village  of  La  Prairie  de  la  Magdelene  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  in  New  France.  They  soon  removed  all  their 
converts  from  both  the  Iroquois  and  Abenakis  missions 
in  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  cantons  to  La  Prairie.  About 
August,  1 67 1,  however,  several  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  war- 
riors were  "linked  together  in  interests,"  as  scouts  employed 
by  the  English  officials  of  Fort  Albany  to  patrol  the  Ticon- 
deroga  war- trails  to  Canada.  During  March,  1672,  King 
Charles  II.  declared  war  against  the  Netherlands,  and  late  in 
June,  1673,  a  Dutch  fleet  sailed  into  New  York  Bay,  and  the 
English  province  again  became  New  Netherland.  The 
Dutch  captain,  Anthony  Colve,  supplanted  Governor  Love- 
lace; Fort  James  was  rechristened  Fort  William  Hendrick, 
and  New  York  was  changed  to  New  Orange;  Fort  Albany 
became  Fort  Nassau,  and  the  town  Willemstadt. 

General  confusion  now  reigned  among  the  Hoosac  and 
Mohawk  scouts  of  the  English  and  Dutch  officials,  and  fifteen 
"Praying  Mohawks"  in  1672  joined  their  Huron  kindred 
under  the  Jesuits  at  Notre  Dame  de  Foy  near  Quebec.  The 
Mohawk  sachem,  Kryn,  soon  became  jealous  of  the  dignity 
of  Soquon  and  Maquon  at  the  Albany  Dutch  Church  and 
Court  House.  He  visited  his  kindred  at  La  Prairie  in  1673, 
and  was  converted  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  after  which 
he  returned  to  his  Gandawague  village  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley  and  became  reconciled  with  his  deserted  wife.  He 
then  induced  about  forty  of  his  warriors,  their  squaws,  and 
children  to  locate  in  Canada  at  the  village  of  St.  Francois 
Xavier  du  Prez,  on  the  Prairie.  Later  they  moved  to  St. 
Francois  Xavier  du  Sault,  near  the  Rapids  of  St.  Louis. 
The  revengeful  Kryn  and  his  mixed  bands  of  "Praying 
Indians"  from  both  the  Iroquois  and  Abenakis  nations 
adopted  the  new  tribal  name,  Caughnawaga  (warriors  of 
the  laughing,  leaping  waters),  and  he  later  headed  all  the 
Jesuit  forays  against    the   Hoosac    and   Mohawk  scouts, 


The  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  Tree      45 

loyal  to  the  Protestant  Church  of  New  York  and  New 
England. 

The  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  War  did  not  cease  fully  until 
after  Kryn's  removal  to  La  Prairie  in  1673.  This  was  con- 
firmed by  the  report  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  and  also  by 
Lieutenant-Governor  Colden  in  his  History  of  the  Five  Nations 
of  the  Iroquois,  who  says  that  actual  peace  between  the 
Mohawks'  and  Hoosacs'  kindred  of  the  Maine  Woods  was 
not  established  until  about  that  time.  The  Hoosacs  and 
Maquonsacs,  however,  after  their  victory  over  the  Mohawks 
in  1669,  remained  in  full  possession  of  the  Saratoga  and 
Hoosac  hunting-grounds,  and  their  Neversink  and  Hacken- 
sac  kindred  about  that  time  asked  permission  of  the  Dutch 
officials  of  New  Jersey  to  visit  them.  The  Treaty  of  West- 
minster, however,  closed  the  Dutch  and  English  War  in 
February,  1674,  and  the  colonial  forts  and  cities  of  New 
Netherland  were  again  turned  over  to  the  English.  During 
the  following  July,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  appointed 
Governor  of  New  York. 

After  taking  possession  of  New  Netherland  in  1664  and 
again  in  1674,  the  English  adopted  equal  laws  regarding 
the  sale  of  liquor,  for  the  protection  of  the  Indian  and 
Christian  alike.  The  sale  or  gift  of  "rum,  strong  waters, 
wine  and  brandy,"  without  license,  was  forbidden  under 
penalty  of  "forty  shillings  for  each  pint  so  sold  or  disposed 
of."  Rail-fences  were  provided  for  the  protection  of  the 
Indians'  cornfields,  since  domestic  animals  were  unknown 
to  the  savages  and  they  frequently  killed  the  cows  and  pigs ; 
and  it  is  recorded  likewise  that  several  greedy  Dutch 
burghers,  caught  in  their  cornfields,  were  also  slain. 

The  Indian  Commissioners  reproved  and  punished  the 
warriors  for  killing  the  stock  and  scalping  the  Christians, 
yet  it  was  difficult  to  make  them  understand  personal  owner- 
ship of  large  animals  similar  to  the  deer  and  moose.     The 


46  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

peace,  which  was  more  dreamed  of  than  realized  under  Gov. 
Peter  Stuyvesant's  reign,  was  in  a  measure  effected  under 
the  administration  of  the  English.  Soquon  and  Maquon 
and  their  chieftains  and  petty-sagamores,  when  finally 
settled  in  the  Hoosac  and  Saratoga  hunting-grounds,  became 
loyally  attached  to  the  English  Governor,  whom  they  sub- 
sequently called  Brother  Corlear,  the  Indian's  Friend,  in 
memory  of  Capt.  Arendt  Van  Curler,  or  Corlear,  of  Fort 
Schonowe,  the  Dutch  village  on  the  site  of  Schenectady,  and 
who  was,  in  1667,  accidentally  drowned  in  Lake  Corlear, 
now  Lake  Champlain. 

The  years  of  1675  and  1676  were  troubled  by  the  Mahican 
uprising  against  the  Christians  for  their  unjust  negotiations 
for  the  sachems'  hunting-grounds  on  the  New  England  and 
New  York  coast.  The  revolt  was  headed  by  Met  com,  suc- 
cessor of  the  sachem  Massasoit,  known  to  the  Pilgrims  as 
King  Philip  of  Macedonia.  This  involved  the  Wampanoags, 
Narragansetts,  Pequots,  and  bands  of  their  kindred  Maquon- 
sacs,  Hoosacs,  and  Pennacooks  residing  in  the  Hudson  and 
Connecticut  valleys.  King  Aepjen  at  that  time  was  located 
on  the  Nana-Apen-ahican  Creek,  flowing  about  Wawa-on-a- 
quass-ick  (hill  of  great  heaps  of  stone),  known  as  Monument 
Mountain  in  Old  Stockbridge.  The  seer,  Passaconaway, 
in  1660,  advised  his  Pennacooks  to  "take  heed  how  they 
quarrelled  with  their  English  neighbors,"  as  it  would  prove 
the  means  of  their  own  destruction.  His  successor,  Wana- 
lancet,  therefore,  in  1675  removed  his  warriors  to  Penock, 
the  site  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  and  took  no  part  in 
the  conflict. 

The  stern  Wampanoag  chieftain,  Grey-Lock,  so  named 
from  his  grey-lock  of  hair,  commanded  the  Woranoaks, 
residing  on  the  site  of  Northfield  and  Springfield  in  the 
Agawam  hunting-grounds.  During  1675,  in  company  with 
the  young  Pequot  sachem,  Mawwehu,  and  two  hundred  and 


The  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  Tree      47 

fifty  warriors,  he  also  fled  over  the  Mahican  trail  to  their 
kindred  on  the  Hudson.  They  were  observed  by  Major  John 
Talcot's  Connecticut  militia,  near  the  site  of  Westfield,  and 
pursued  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Housatonac  and  Hoosac 
valleys.  Forty-five  Indians  were  slain  or  captured,  twenty- 
five  of  whom  were  considered  King  Philip's  fiercest  warriors. 

Grey-Lock  and  Mawwehu,  however,  torn  and  wounded, 
in  company  with  two  hundred  warriors,  made  their  escape 
to  Dutch  Claverack  and  located  with  their  kindred  at  Potic 
and  Esopus  in  the  Catskills  and  Helderbergs,  until  after 
the  close  of  hostilities,  when  they  joined  Soquon's  lodge  at 
Old  Schaghticoke  on  the  lower  Hoosac.  A  fleeing  band  of 
Wanalancet's  Pennacooks  were  later  pursued  up  the  Connec- 
ticut Valley  by  the  English  militia.  They  sought  shelter 
with  their  kindred  Algonquins  under  the  Jesuits  and  organ- 
ized the  St.  Francis  Indian  village  on  River  St.  Francis 
between  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Grey-Lock  later  joined  the 
Jesuits  and  built  Fort  St.  Regis  on  the  Missisquoi  Bay  in 
the  lower  Champlain  Valley  of  the  Green  Mountains,  and 
Mawwehu  built  his  lodge  at  Pompanac  on  the  White  Creek, 
in  the  Walloomsac  Valley.  Grey-Lock  and  Kryn  now 
became  the  leaders  of  the  "Praying  Indians"  and  headed  the 
St.  Regis  and  St.  Frangois  warriors  in  all  their  forays  against 
the  English  and  Dutch  settlements  during  Father  Rale's 
Jesuit  War,  between  1676  and  the  death  of  Rale  in  1724. 
Kryn  was  slain  in  1690,  while  heading  a  band  of  savages 
against  the  English  on  Salomon  River,  and  Grey-Lock  fell 
after  burning  Northfield  in  1724. 

After  the  Pennacooks  were  comfortably  located  under  the 
Jesuits  at  their  villages  of  Becancour  and  St.  Francis, 
several  young  chieftains  visited  King  Aepjen  and  Soquon, 
urging  them  and  their  petty-sagamores  located  in  the  Housa- 
tonac and  Hoosac  valleys  to  join  them  in  Canada  in  the  name 
of  the  Governor  of  New  France.     Gov.  Edmund  Andros 


48  The  Hoosac  Valley 

of  New  York  as  early  as  March,  1675,  organized  a  Board  of 
Indian  Commissioners  at  Albany,  and  with  a  promptness 
equal  to  that  of  the  Governor  of  Canada,  and  from  similar 
motives,  urged  the  St.  Francis  fugitives  of  King  Philip's 
War  to  return,  and  engage  as  scouts  under  King  Aepjen 
and  his  Owl,  Soquon,  and  Hero.  Maquon  and  several 
did  so. 

Diplomacy  was  as  necessary  in  the  wilds  of  the  Mahican 
and  Mohawk  hunting-grounds  as  in  the  towered  cities  of 
Europe,  and  Governor  Andros,  like  his  predecessor,  was  no 
mean  strategist.  During  August,  1675,  a  second  treaty  was 
made  with  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts,  at  which  time 
they  swore  fealty  to  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany.  The 
people  of  Albany,  during  the  December  following,  were 
frightened  by  a  report  that  King  Philip  and  one  thousand 
of  his  fiercest  savages  were  only  forty  miles  east  of  them. 
It  seemed  probable  that  Albany  was  their  objective  point, 
as  the  Hudson  was  frozen  over  and  the  Indians  could  easily 
cross  over  and  burn  the  town.  Captain  Brockhalls,  then 
commander  of  Fort  Albany  and  its  outposts,  despatched 
three  hundred  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts  eastward  to 
meet  Philip's  war-party.  In  less  than  a  month  the  scouts 
met  five  hundred  of  Philip's  savage  militia  and  returned  to 
Fort  Albany,  bringing  with  them  a  number  of  scalps  and 
prisoners.  The  expedition  saved  Albany,  although  Hadley, 
Springfield,  Northfield,  and  Deerfield  had  already  been 
plundered  and  burned. 

After  this,  King  Philip  remained  in  hiding,  and  the  Chris- 
tians made  an  arranegment  or  treaty  with  the  "  Praying 
sachems"  of  King  Aepjen's  Mahicans  of  New  England,  to 
capture  Philip  and  his  fugitives.  The  Governor  of  New 
York  later  requested  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts  of 
Schaghticoke  to  seek  to  capture  Philip  and  his  warriors  in 
order  to  win  the  valuable  rewards  offered.     It  is  needless 


The  Schaghticokes,  Witenagemot  Tree      49 

to  record  that  Soquon  and  Maquon  were  loyal  to  Philip's 
cause,  while  the  sneaking  treachery  of  the  Mohawk  scouts 
led  them  to  hunt  him  down  like  a  dog.  Unbeknown  to  the 
Christians  and  the  Mohawks,  King  Philip,  Grey-Lock, 
Mawwehu,  and  the  sires  of  Osceola,  Black  Hawk,  and  Uncus 
of  Uncus,  found  refuge  at  Soquon' s  Schaghticoke  village, 
near  the  junction  of  the  Tomhannac  with  the  Hoosac, 
during  the  deep  snows  of  December,  1675,  and  January, 
1676. 

During  the  autumn  of  1675,  King  Philip's  War  appears 
to  have  raged  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and 
Housatonac  valleys,  but  owing  to  the  uncommon  depth  of 
snow  in  the  mountainous  passes,  actual  fighting  ceased  dur- 
ing December  and  January,  and  in  February,  a  sudden  thaw 
left  the  ground  bare.  The  place  of  refuge  of  King  Philip 
and  his  leading  chieftains  then  became  known  to  the  Mo- 
hawk Mingos,  and  the  scouts  soon  drove  them  over  the 
Hoosac  Mountain  trail  to  the  Squakheags'  lodges  on  the 
Connecticut  River,  where  a  few  of  Philip's  faithful  warriors 
made  a  final  rally  against  the  Christians. 

The  Mahican  treaty  with  the  Christians,  dated  at  Peta- 
guanset,  New  England,  on  July  15,  1676,  was  sent  by 
Governor  Andros  of  New  York  to  Soquon,  and  read  as 
follows: 


The  said  Sachem  shall  carefully  seize  all  and  every  one 
of  Philip's  subjects,  and  deliver  them  up  to  the  English 
alive  or  dead ;  that  they  shall  use  all  acts  of  hostility  against 
Philip  and  his  subjects,  to  kill  them  wherever  they  can  be 
found;  that  if  they  seize  Philip  and  deliver  him  alive 
to  the  English,  they  shall  receive  forty  tunking  cloth 
coats;  and  for  his  head,  alone,  twenty  of  said  coats;  and 
for  every  subject  of  said  Philip,  two  coats  if  alive,  and  one, 
if  dead. 
4 


50  The  Hoosac  Valley 

In  presence  and  signed  by  marks  (totems)  of: 

Daniel  Hinchman,  Sachem  Jamageson, 

Thomas  Prentice ,  Tay son , 

Nicholas  Page,  Agamang, 

Joseph  Stanton,  Wampugh  alias  Colman, 

Henry  Hawlins,  Interpreters — probably 

Peter  Bruce,  Indians1. 
JohnNeff. 

When  on  August  12, 1676,  King  Philip  was  besieged  in  the 
Great  Swamp  near  Pokanoket  council-seat  at  Mount  Hope 
in  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  and  shot  through  the  heart  by  one 
of  his  faithless  warriors,  the  Mahican  Revolution  was  at 
an  end.  During  its  brief  course  three  great  cantons  of  the 
Abenakis  Democracy,  including  Wampanoags,  Narragan- 
setts,  and  Pennacook-Mahicans,  had  been  almost  totally 
slain  or  banished  from  their  native  hunting-grounds.  The 
loss  of  the  English  was  six  hundred,  or  one  in  every  eleven 
of  the  English  settlers  able  to  bear  arms. 

After  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  scouts  were  sent  eastward 
in  January,  1676,  to  repulse  King  Philip's  army  advancing 
against  Albany,  Governor  Andros,  with  six  sloops  carrying 
a  detail  of  soldiers,  ascended  the  Hudson  in  February  to 
relieve  the  garrison  of  Fort  Albany,  and  to  assist  in  building 
Fort  Frederick  at  the  head  of  Yonkers  Street,  now  State 
Street. 

It  was  during  Governor  Andros*  s  visit  to  Albany  that 
eventful  spring  after  King  Philip  had  been  routed  from 
Schaghticoke  village,  that  the  Witenagemot  (Assemblage  of 
the  Wise),  consisting  of  the  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners 
headed  by  Governor  Andros  and  his  councillors,  judges,  and 
divines,  accompanied  by  the  militia  of  the  King  of  England, 
assembled  near  the  confluence  of  the  Tomhannac  with  the 

1  Hon.  John  Fitch,  "The  Schaghticoke  Tribe  of  Indians,"  New  York  Hist. 
Mag.,  June,  1870. 


The  Witenagemot  Oak.  A  Treaty  Tree  of  Peace  and  Welfare. 
Planted  by  the  Christians  for  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  Scouts,  near  the 
junction  of  the  Tomhannac  Creek  with  the  Hoosac  River,  in  the  Vale  of  Peace,  Old 
Schaghticoke,  New  York.  Here  assembled  the  first  Council  of  the  Christians  with 
Soquon  and  Maquon  after  the  Hoosacs'  final  victory  over  Kryn's  Mohawks  in 
1676.  And  then  to  mark  the  lord  of  all, 

The  forest  hero,  trained  to  wars, 
Quivered  and  plumed,  and  lithe  and  tall. 

And  seamed  with  glorious  scars, 
Walk  forth,  amid  his  reign,  to  dare 
The  wolf,  and  grapple  with  the  bear. 
Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 
5i 


52  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Hoosac  and  planted  the  Witenagemot  Oak.  The  famous 
Council  Tree  of  Peace  was  planted,  not  only  with  a  view  of 
confirming  the  link  of  friendship  between  Kryn's  "Praying 
Mohawks"  of  the  Caughnawaga  village  in  Canada  and 
Soquon's  Hoosacs  at  Schaghticoke  village,  but  to  strengthen 
the  alliance  of  Fort  Albany  militia  with  their  River  Indian 
scouts,  whose  fugitive  kindred  were  scattered  throughout 
New  England,  New  York,  and  New  France.  It  is  the  only 
"Vale  of  Peace"  on  the  continent  where  the  Witenagemot 
has  ever  assembled  for  the  Indian's  welfare. 

Of  the  actual  planting  of  the  Witenagemot  Oak  there  is 
no  contemporaneous  record,  as  Col.  Peter  Schuyler  was  not 
appointed  recording  secretary  of  the  Indian  Conference  until 
about  1700.  Soquon,  in  an  oration  addressed  to  Governor 
Cornbury  at  Albany  on  July  18,  1702,  rehearsed  the  incident, 
however,  saying  that: 

About  twenty-six  years  ago  (1676),  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
then  Governor  of  this  Province,  planted  a  Tree  of  Welfare 
at  Schaghticoke,  and  invited  us  to  come  and  live  there, 
which  we  very  luckily  complied  with ;  and  we  have  increased 
that  tree,  and  the  very  leaves  thereof  have  grown  hard 
and  strong;  the  tree  is  grown  so  thick  of  leaves  and  boughs 
that  the  sun  can  scarce  shine  through  it, — yea,  the  fire 
itself  cannot  consume  it. 

The  fleet-footed  Un-nuh-kan-kun  (Runner)  was  sent  forth 
by  King  Aepjen  in  March,  1676,  to  invite  the  remnant  bands 
of  the  fugitive  Mahicans  of  King  Philip's  War  to  meet  the 
Christians  and  the  last  of  the  Mohawks,  at  Soquon's  Old 
Schaghticoke  lodge.  About  one  thousand  warriors  of  the 
Abenakis  and  Iroquois  nations,  including  the  Hoosacs, 
Mahicansacs,  Pequots,  Narragansetts,  Wampanoags,  Penna- 
cooks,  Abnaquis,  Lenni-Lenapes  or  Delawares,  Mohawks, 


The  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  Tree      53 

and  Onondagas,  assembled  to  hold  the  conference  of  peace 
with  Governor  Andros. 

The  purpose  of  the  Witenagemot  was  ostensibly  to  cele- 
brate the  Indians'  Festival  of  the  new  moon  of  February, 
which  should  be  a  harbinger  of  a  spring  of  peace  among  the 
warring  savages  and  the  Christians.  There  should  be  made 
a  compact  of  friendship,  and  the  symbol  should  be  the 
planting  of  a  sapling  oak.  Whether  Governor  Andros 
poured  only  the  customary  deer-horn  goblet  of  "pure 
river  water"  over  the  earth,  as  he  blessed  the  "tree  of 
welfare"  and  recognized  the  strict  prohibition  laws  of  1664 
and  1674,  we  shall  never  know.  It  is  safe,  however,  to  infer 
that  there  was  plenty  of  aqua-vitce  there  for  the  occasion  and 
that  the  tree  was  blessed  by  having  a  bottle  of  grape  wine 
broken  over  its  roots. 

The  most  dignified  figures  of  the  conclave  included  the 
kings,  Uncus  and  Aepjen,  the  owl,  Soquon,  and  hero, 
Maquon,  and  sachems,  Wanalancet  and  Grey-Lock.  King 
Aepjen  held  the  Mno-ti  (bag  of  peace)  of  the  Abenakis 
Nation,  containing  belts  of  wampum  and  the  Calumet  of 
peace,  lighted  by  his  Runner.  Aepjen  and  the  Mohawk 
King  were  councillors  emeritus,  as  it  were;  and  Maquon  of 
the  Mahicansacs  and  Kryn  of  the  Mohawks  and  Caughna- 
wagas  broke  the  string  of  their  bows  and  buried  the  Pubui 
(hatchet)  at  the  foot  of  the  Tree  of  Peace.  The  eloquent 
Soquon  of  the  Hoosacs  pronounced  the  benediction  and 
assured  Governor  Andros  that  the  last  of  the  Mahicans  and 
Mohawks  had  wiped  off  the  tears  and  blood  on  the  Pubui 
and  should  dance  beneath  the  branches  of  the  Witenagemot 
Oak  in  peace.  He  called  upon  the  Great  Manitou  to 
cleanse  their  beds  and  scatter  all  dark  clouds,  and  offered 
Hobbamocko  (the  evil  fiend  of  calamity)  sacrifices,  if  he 
would  guard  against  digging  up  the  buried  hatchet  to  cut 
down  the  Tree  of  Peace,  planted  by   "Brother  Corlear" 


54  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  "Yonnondio" — the  Governors  of  New  York  and  New 
France. 

The  Mahicans  custom1  at  their  national  councils  of  peace 
or  war  was  to  seat  the  King,  Runner,  Owl,  Hero,  and  other 
councillors  in  the  innermost  circle;  the  young  warriors  were 
in  the  second  circle,  and  the  squaws  and  children  in  the  third 
or  outermost  circle.  The  business  of  the  women  was  that 
of  recording  secretary,  and  to  note  the  compact  of  treaties- 
They  imprinted  the  transactions  on  their  minds  and  com- 
municated the  traditions  to  their  sons,  destined  to  be  chosen 
successors  to  the  office  of  Great  Sachem,  Owl,  Hero,  and 
Runner  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy. 

The  Assemblage  of  the  Wise  was  surrounded  by  the  bril- 
liant and  uniformed  militia  of  Governor  Andros's  staff, 
while  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  probably  Bruyas  and  Boniface  of 
the  Mohawk  missions,  and  the  Dutch  Dominies,  Schaets  and 
Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  offered  prayers  and  sang  anthems 
during  the  closing  ceremony  of  passing  the  Calumet  (pipe  of 
peace)  around  the  circles.  The  Christians,  including  Gov- 
ernor Andros  and  his  Council,  were  obliged  to  partake  of  a 
whiff  of  the  incense  of  peace  in  order  to  seal  the  alliance  of 
friendship.  This  ceremony  was  followed  by  an  exchange 
of  belts  of  wampum  and  skins  from  the  Indians ;  and  Gov- 
ernor Andros  presented  to  the  River  Indian  scouts  pipes, 
tobacco,  knives,  axes,  and  a  few  uniforms. 

The  ceremonial  calumet  of  the  Mahican  king  was  made  of 
hard  red  stone  and  had  a  long  stem.  Those  preserved  in  the 
Hudson-Champlain  museums  to-day,  however,  are  of  a 
platform  or  trumpet  style,  made  from  slate  or  gypsum,  inlaid 
with  nickel  or  lead  symbols.  The  peace  belts  of  wampum 
were  embroidered  with  symbols  of  the  Swastika  (Cross  of 
all  Nations). 

1  Dr,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Remarks  Concerning  the  Savages  of  North  America, 
1834* 


The  Schaghticokes,  Witenagemot  Tree      55 

Governor  Andros  invited  the  Mahican  warriors  of  the 
Maine  Woods  and  White  Mountains  to  settle  in  the  Hoosac 
Valley  and  hold  their  civil  councils  with  Soquon  and  Maquon 
beneath  the  Witenagemot  Oak.  He  promised  to  build  the 
"Praying  Mohawks"  a  mission  chapel  near  the  junction  of 
St.  Anthony  Kill  with  the  Hudson  at  Skeetecook  (Still- 
Water  village)  and  Soquon's  Hoosacs  a  chapel  at  Tioshoke, 
near  the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill  with  the  Hoosac.  After 
the  planting  of  the  Tree  of  Peace,  the  Hoosacs,  together  with 
the  last  of  the  Mahicans  of  New  England,  took  the  new 
national  name,  Skatecooks  or  Schaghticokes — signifying 
warriors  of  the  Mingling  Waters,  including  the  Pennacooks, 
Pequots,  Narragansetts,  Wampanoags,  Abnaquis,  Lenni- 
Lenapes,  and  Mohawk  scouts. 

The  name  Skatecook  was  first  given  to  King  Aepjen's 
council-hill,  near  the  confluence  of  Green  River  with  the 
Housatonac  River,  Mass.,  in  1664.  The  Pequot  sachem, 
Mawwehu  of  Old  Schaghticoke,  founded  New  Skatecook 
near  the  confluence  of  St.  Agnes  Creek  with  Housatonac 
River  at  the  base  of  Schaghticoke  Mountain,  Ct.,  in  1726. 
The  name,  Skatecook  (mingling  waters)  and  Skeetecook 
(still  waters)  have  many  origins  and  over  a  hundred  spellings. 
The  French  and  Algonquins  of  New  France  pronounced  the 
name  Skatecook — Kaskekouke1 ;  King  Aepjen  and  Mawwehu 
of  New  England  pronounced  it  Skatecook,  Pahhakoke,  and 
Pishgachticok ;  and  Soquon  and  Maquon,  under  the  Dutch 
of  New  York,  called  it  Skatecook  and  Schaghticoke. 

Soquon  in  an  oration  addressed  to  Governor  Cornbury 
July  18,  1 70 1,  said  that  the  warriors  of  Old  Schaghticoke 
and  Catskill  villages  consisted  of  two  hundred  fighting  men. 
He  added:  "Our  neighbors,  the  Mohawks,  have  not  been  so 
fortunate,  for  their  tree  was  burnt.  We  have  been  so  happy 
and  fortunate  that  our  number  is  increased  to  that  degree 

1  Francis  Parkman,  "  Fort  Massachusetts,"  Half  a  Century  of  Conflict. 


56  The  Hoosac  Valley 

that  we  cannot  all  be  shaded  by  one  tree,  and,  therefore, 
desire  that  another  tree  besides  that  at  Schaghticoke,  may- 
be planted  for  us." 

The  Mohawk  scouts'  Council  Tree  was  evidently  planted 
by  Governor  Andros  in  1676,  in  the  "Duck  Pond  Lot"  on 
the  bank  of  the  Tomhannac,  southwest  of  the  Knickerbacker 
Mansion,  and  was  subsequently  struck  by  lightning  and 
overthrown.  It  measured  twenty  feet  in  circumference,  and 
during  1876  the  late  William  P.  Button  heaved  the  oak  into  a 
grave  and  covered  it  with  earth  near  where  it  fell.  Joseph 
Foster  Knickerbacker — the  "Poet  of  the  Vale" — in  his 
"Musings  beneath  the  Hoosacs'  Witenagemot  Oak,"  pub- 
lished in  his  volume,  The  Arch  of  Truth  and  other  Poems,  in 
1876,  records  that:  "The  prostrate  form  of  thy  brother  oak 
[referring  to  the  Mohawks'  tree]  tells  me  it  is  even  so !  That 
there  is  naught  however  venerable,  and  naught  however 
sublime,  but  in  a  moment  may  be  blasted  by  Heaven's  Will 
and  by  Heaven's  power." 

The  Hoosacs'  Witenagemot  Oak  still  stands  to-day,  and 
beholds  the  "Vale  of  Peace"  of  another  century  than  that  of 
its  sapling  days  of  massacre  and  war.  If  its  sturdy  branches 
and  rustling  leaves  could  unfold  the  fitful  shadows  of  the 
past,  they  might  portray  scenes  of  joy  and  sadness  witnessed 
within  the  hill-encircled  vale,  and  reveal  vistas  of  the  return- 
ing Hoosac  braves  headed  by  Queen  Esther  and  her  maidens 
of  St.  Regis  in  the  grove-clad  Tawasentha  (burial-field  of  the 
Schaghticokes) ,  embosomed  by  the  western  hill-side.  "And 
thence,  Willom, — an  old  man,  was  borne  to  a  new-made 
grave.  And  in  after  time,  his  son,  and  his  son's  sons,  even 
for  many  generations,  each  advanced  to  hoary  eld — like 
shocks  of  corn  fully  ripe — had  within  that  sacred  garner- 
field  been  gathered  to  the  harvest." 

The  sage  Council  Tree  of  the  Hoosacs  is  twenty  feet  in 
circumference.     It  is  now  in  its  third,  and  probably  last 


The  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  Tree      57 

century  of  existence.  The  heart  of  the  venerable  oak  is 
dead  at  its  base,  and  through  the  winter  months  many  a 
squirrel  takes  shelter  in  its  deep  recesses.  In  another  half 
century  this  monarch  of  the  Hoosacs'  hunting-grounds  will 
have  passed  away.  A  sapling  oak  should  replace  its  parent 
and  mark  for  generations  to  come  the  site  of  the  Assemblage 
of  the  Wise  in  the  "Vale  of  Peace." 


CHAPTER  III 

MAHICAN   BOUNDARIES  AND   CHRISTIAN   BORDER   FORTS 
I6I5-I8I5 

A  noble  race!  but  they  are  gone, 

With  their  old  forests  wide  and  deep, 

And  we  have  built  our  homes  upon 
Fields  where  their  generations  sleep. 

Bryant,  The  Disinterred  Warrior. 

Protestant  Dutch  Boers  and  French  Walloons,  1615-1624 — English  Pilgrims, 
1 620-1 628 — British  Charters — New  Netherland — New  England — New 
France — Map  of  American  Colonies — Dutch  and  French  Hoosac  Manors, 
1637-1688 — English  and  Irish  Hoosac  Towns,  1 739-1 749 — French  and 
St.  Francis  Indian  Incursions — King  William's  War,  1689 — Onondaga 
War  Council,  April,  1690 — English  and  Dutch  Invasion  of  Canada, 
August,  1690 — Queen  Anne's  War,  1 703-1 713 — Rale's  Jesuit  War,  1689- 
1724 — King  George's  War,  1 744-1 748 — Marin's  Massacre  at  Schuyler 
Mills,  Old  Saratoga,  November,  1745. 

THE  furs  that  the  Dutch  Boers  took  back  to  Holland  in 
1609  led  the  Amsterdam  merchants  to  prepare  a  map 
— Carte  Figurative1 — in  1614,  and  invite  colonization  in  the 
Mahican  cantons.  Capt.  Hendrik  Corstiaensen  and 
Adriaen  Block  fitted  up  the  ships,  Tiger  and  Fortune,  in 
1 61 5,  and  set  sail  with  several  soldiers,  including  Claessen, 
Eelkins,  Lyberg,  Orson,  Schenck,  and  others.  They  founded 
Fort  Nassoureen  on  Castle  Island,  opposite  the  present  site 
of  Albany. 

The  fort  was  surrounded  by  a  palisade  fifty  feet  square 
and  protected  by  a  moat  eighteen  feet  wide.  Two  cannon 
and  eleven  small  guns  were  mounted  on  swivels,  and  the 

*  Chapter  I.,  p.  23. 

58 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     59 

cannon  were  adjusted  to  hurl  small  boulders  when  balls 
were  scarce.  The  jealous  Orson  shot  Captain  Corstiaensen 
in  1 61 6  and  met  death  himself  while  in  the  act.  Capt.  Jacob 
Jacobs  Eelkins  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  fort  until 
it  was  swept  away  by  high  water  in  161 8. 

Meanwhile  in  1606,  a  band  of  Puritans  known  as  Brownists 
or  Separatists  from  the  Church  of  England,  met  at  Brewster's 
Manor-house — the  "Post  of  Scrooby"  of  the  Archbishop  of 
York,  on  the  borders  of  Yorkshire  and  Nottinghamshire, 
England. 

The  Rev.  John  Robinson,  together  with  Clyfton,  Morton, 
Bradford,  Brewster,  and  other  Separatists,  migrated  to 
Ley  den,  Holland,  and  founded  the  Pilgrims'  Church  in  1607. 
During  1622,  several  French  Protestants,  known  as  Wal- 
loons, from  the  Rhone  Valley,  also  migrated  to  Amsterdam, 
to  escape  persecution.  The  Dutch  never  admired  the 
English  Pilgrims,  although  they  welcomed  the  industrious 
French  Walloons. 

During  February,  1620,  the  English  Pilgrims  desired  to 
locate  near  Chescodonta  on  the  Mahicansac  River  and  found 
their  Separate  Church,  but  the  Amsterdam  merchants  did 
not  encourage  them  as  colonists.  Later  over  a  hundred  set 
sail  on  the  ship  Mayflower,  and  landed  on  the  Wampanoags' 
shore  of  Cape  Cod  Bay.  The  French  Walloons  in  1622 
desired  to  join  the  English  Colony  in  Virginia  and  found 
their  Separate  Church,  but  the  Amsterdam  Gentlemen 
urged  several  families  to  locate  with  the  Dutch  Boers  of 
Fort  Nassoureen  Colony. 

In  March,  1624,  Capt.  Cornelius  Jacobsen  Mey  fitted  up 
his  ship,  Nieu  Nederlandt,  and  thirty  Walloon  families  set 
sail  for  New  Amsterdam  Harbor.  Two  months  later 
eighteen  of  those  families  settled  below  Cohoes  Falls  and  in 
the  pine  groves  of  Greenbush,  opposite  Chescodonta.  After 
making  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Abenakis  King  and  his 


60  The  Hoosac  Valley 

councillors,  they  built  log  dwellings  and  planted  cornfields. 
In  June,  Capt.  Adriaen  Jorise  and  Daniel  Van  Krieckebeek 
built  a  fort  on  the  site  of  Steamboat  Square,  in  Albany.  It 
was  christened  Aurania — the  Latin  for  Orange, — in  honor 
of  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau-Orange,  a  small  principality 
of  the  Rhone  Valley  in  southern  France,  then  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  House  of  Nassau.  The  Grande  was  christened 
Mauritius, ■  or  Orange  River. 

The  English  Pilgrims,  during  March,  1621,  also  built  Fort 
Plymouth  and  a  forest  chapel  overlooking  Cape  Cod  Bay, 
and  Capt.  John  Smith  christened  their  province  New  Eng- 
land. In  1628  the  Pilgrims  began  to  explore  the  length 
and  breadth  of  their  territory  and  discovered  the  Dutch 
Boers  and  French  Walloons  in  New  Netherland. 

England  claimed  all  rights  of  colonization  and  traffic  in 
the  American  colonies  through  John  Cabot's  and  his  son, 
Sebastian  Cabot's,  discovery  of  America  in  1497  and  1498. 
By  the  British  Constitution  the  title  of  provincial  land  was 
vested  in  the  King's  power  to  grant  at  pleasure,  either  with 
or  without  power  of  government,  to  single  individuals,  cor- 
porations, or  governors  empowered  with  the  government  of 
certain  described  and  bounded  colonies,  distinguished  as 
proprietary,  charter,  and  royal  governments. 

A  national  enmity  existed,  between  the  English  Crown 
and  the  Holland  and  French  officials,  over  Henry  Hudson's 
and  Samuel  Champlain's  rights  of  discovery  and  colonization 
of  New  Netherland  and  New  France,  between  1607  and  1664, 
and  the  English  King  failed  to  confirm  the  Hollanders' 
purchased  rights  of  Hudson.  The  Dutch  inaugurated  the 
Patroon's  System  of  colonization,  however,  regardless  of 
rights.  In  1631  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  a  wealthy  dia- 
mond merchant  of  Amsterdam,  entered  into  partnership  with 
Samuel  Goodyn,  Johannes  De  Laet,  and  Samuel  Blommaert 

xMap  1614,  Chapter  I.,  p.  23. 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     61 

to  found  Rensselaerwyck.  Gillis  Hossett  and  Dominie  Sebas- 
tian Krol  were  engaged  to  negotiate  with  the  Mahican  and 
Delaware  sachems  for  twenty-four  miles  square  on  each  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  making  Chescodonta  the  centre  of  the  manor. 

On  April  8,  1631,  Dominie  Krol  secured  the  Indian  title 
of  the  land  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson  extending  from 
King  Aepjen's  Bear  Island  north  to  Smack's  Island  opposite 
Fort  Aurania,  from  sachems  Paep-Sikenekomtas,  Mancont- 
tanshal,  and  Sickousson.  On  July  27th  following,  he  secured 
the  title  of  the  Sannahagog  Tract,  extending  from  Smack's 
Island  north  to  Cohoes  Lane,  or  the  Mahicansacs'  war-trail 
passing  through  the  centre  of  Maquon's  Castle  Mcenemines 
on  Haver  (Oat)  Island  below  Cohoes  Falls  from  sachems 
Cattomack,  Nawanemit,  Abantzene,  Sagisquwa,  and  Kana- 
moack.  Sachem  Nawanemit  also  owned  the  north  end  of 
the  Sannahagog  Tract  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and 
six  years  later,  in  1637,  Jacob  Albertzen  Plank,  first  Sheriff 
of  Rensselaerwyck,  and  Arendt  Van  Curler  or  Corlear,  a 
cousin  of  Patroon  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer,  purchased  the 
Hoosacs'  Lake  District,  extending  from  King  Aepjen's  Bear 
Island  north  to  Soquon's  Castle  Unuwat.  This  included 
the  " Stone  Arabia,"  or  Diamond  Rock  Tract,  eastward 
twenty-four  miles,  reaching  up  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Ta- 
conacs  into  Pownal,  Vt.  The  sachems  received  for  this 
vast  forest  region  certain  quantities  of  duffels,  or  coats, 
axes,  knives,  and  wampum. 

The  New  Amsterdam  Dutch  Boers  and  French  Walloons 
kept  a  jealous  eye  upon  the  English  Pilgrims  migrating  to 
the  banks  of  the  Varsch-Fresh  River  of  Connecticut,  in  1628. 
Capt.  Jacobus  Van  Curler,  an  elder  brother  of  Arendt  Van 
Curler  of  Fort  Orange,  built  Fort  Good  Hope  near  Hartford 
in  1633,  and  challenged  the  Yankee  Pilgrims'  occupancy  of 
the  New  England  territory  east  to  Cape  Cod  Bay,  by  right 
of  "club  law." 


62  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  boundary  quarrels  of  the  Dutch,  however,  led  to  the 
English  conquest  of  Dutch  New  Netherland  in  1664.  The 
New  Englanders  denied  King  Charles  II.1  the  legal  right  to 
regrant  New  England,  including  New  Netherland,  to  his 
brother  James,  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  on  March  12, 
1664. 

"The  whiteman,"  says  Thoreau,  "came  with  a  load  of 
thought,  with  a  slumbering  intelligence,  as  a  fire  raked  up, 
knowing  well  what  he  knew."  The  farmers  of  Rensselaer- 
wyck  raised  apples  and  rye  more  for  the  brewing  of  mead  and 
beer  than  for  pie  or  bread-making.  A  dozen  boschloopers 
(forest-runners)  were  engaged  by  the  fur-traders  to  meet  the 
Indians  on  their  way  to  Beverswyck  market,  bribe  them  with 
brandy,  rob  them  of  their  furs,  and  lodge  them  in  jail  for 
drunkenness.  In  this  manner  the  Mahicans  and  Mohawks 
degenerated  between  the  advent  of  the  Dutch  and  English 
Pilgrims  and  the  downfall  of  New  Netherland. 

After  the  English  conquest  of  the  Dutch  in  1664,  Capt. 
John  Manning  took  command  of  Fort  Albany,  and  the  clerk, 
Dirck  Van  Schelluyne,  began  to  enroll  the  patroons  and  their 
Dutch  and  French  tenants  as  British  subjects.  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer  of  Rensselaerwyck  in  1665  was  the  first  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Charles  II. 

Later  the  Mutual  Board  of  the  King's  Commissioners 
agreed  upon  the  Twenty-Mile  Line  east  of,  and  parallel  with, 
the  Hudson  River  as  the  boundary  between  New  York  and 
Connecticut.  After  the  Duke  of  York  ascended  the  throne 
as  King  James  II.,  Col.  Richard  Nicolls,  the  first  governor 
of  New  York  Colony,  wrote  him  that  the  adopted  line  was 
a  favorable  adjustment  to  be  followed  for  the  entire  boun- 
dary between  New  York  and  Massachusetts  Bay,which  at  the 
time  was  distinctly  understood  to  extend  north  to  Canada. 

*King  Charles  II.,  Charter  of  N.  Y.,  1664,  cited  in  London  Documents,  xvi., 
p.  253.     Illustration,  Chapter  I.,  p.  38. 


Mitchell's  Map  of  the  British  and  French  Dominions  in  North  America,  1755- 

It  Shows  the  Adopted  Twenty-Mile  Boundary  between  New  York  and 

New  England  Colonies. 

63 


64  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  Twenty-Mile  Line  was  subsequently  described  on  Dr. 
Jno.  Mitchell's  Map  of  the  British  and  French  Dominions  in 
North  America,  published  in  London  during  1755.  The 
following  certificate  is  found  inscribed  on  the  back  of  the 
original  map,  which  is  six  feet  square : 

This  Map  was  undertaken  with  the  approbation  and 
request  of  the  lords  Commission  for  trade  and  plantations 
and  is  chiefly  composed  from  draughts,  charts,  and  actual 
surveys  of  different  parts  of  his  Majesty's  Colonies  and 
plantations  in  America ;  great  part  of  which  have  been  lately 
taken  by  their  lordship's  orders  and  transmitted  to  this 
office  by  the  Governors  of  said  Colonies  and  others. 

John  Pownall, 

Secretary. 
Plantation  Office,  February  13,  1755. 

Among  the  first  manors  purchased  of  the  Indians  in  Hoosac 
Valley  was  Rensselaer wyck,  which  reached  east  twenty-four  h 
miles  from  the  Hudson  in  1637.  It  was  confirmed  by  the 
English  in  1665,  according  to  adopted  boundary  twenty 
miles  east  of  the  Hudson.  The  original  Ochserantogue  or 
Sarachtogie  Tract  of  the  Mahicansacs  began  north  of 
Mathahennaheh  or  Manitou-aseniah  (Spirit-rock)  about 
Nack-te-Nack,  the  islands  below  Cohoes  Falls ;  and  extended 
north  indefinitely  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson.  Portions  of 
this  vast  tract  were  subsequently  deeded  by  the  Mahican 
sachems  to  several  individuals.  The  "Halve-Maen"  Tract 
north  of  Rensselaerwyck  was  deeded  to  the  Albany  brewer, 
Capt.  Goosen  Garretse  Van  Schaick,  and  Philipsen  Pietersen 
Schuyler  in  1662  in  order  to  prevent  "those  of  Connecticut" 
purchasing  it,  and  this  transfer  was  confirmed  by  the  King 
in  1664.  The  south  line  ran  east  and  west  along  the  Boght 
(Manor)  Avenue  of  Rensselaerwyck  through  the  centre  of 
Castle  Mcenemines  on  Haver  Island ;  and  the  parallel  north 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts    65 

line  began  at  the  junction  of  St.  Anthony  Kill  with  the 
Hudson  and  extended  west  to  the  Mohawk  Flats.  Hilete 
(Alice),  the  wife  of  Pieter  Danielse  Van  Olinde,  a  daughter 
of  a  Mohawk  squaw  and  Cornelius  Antonissen  Van  Slyck, 
mentioned  by  the  French  Labadist  missionaries,  Jasper 
Dankers  and  Pieter  Sluyter,  as  an  intelligent  Indian  in- 
terpretress, owned  the  Mohawk  Flats  above  Cohoes  Falls. 

The  first  settlers  on  Haver  Island  of  the  Half- Moon 
Patent  included  Oldert  Onderkirk  and  Harmon  Lievens. 
The  island  contains  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  acres, 
and  Fort  Half-Moon  was  built  about  Lievens's  house  and 
commanded  by  his  son-in-law,  Captain  Van  Schaick,  until 
his  death  in  1667.  Captain  Van  Schaick  also  owned  Cohoes 
Island,  now  Van  Schaick  Island,  below  the  Third  Sprout  or 
fork  of  the  Mohawk,  which  contains  three  hundred  acres. 
The  subsequent  tenants  of  the  region  were  Guert  Hendrickse 
Van  Schoonhoven,  RoelofT  Garretse  Van  Derwerken,  Henry 
fi  Lansing,  Cornelius  Onderkirk,  Dirck  Heamstreet,  and 
Frederick  Clute.  The  site  of  Mcenemines  Castle  of  Ma- 
quon's  Mahicansacs  on  Haver  Island,  and  a  portion  of  the 
mainland  on  the  site  of  Waterford  was  sold  by  Captain  Van 
Schaick's  widow,  Annetie,  to  Jan  Jacobse  Van  Noorstrand, 
June  26,  1677,  for  "sixty  and  six  beavers"  at  the  market 
price  or  in  grain  or  labor.  The  quaint  deed  was  recorded 
at  the  Albany  County  Clerk's  Office  by  Robert  Livingston, 
in  the  presence  of  Garret  Banker  and  Harmon  Rutkers. 
Fort  Half-Moon  was  removed  after  King  William's  War, 
and  in  1703  rebuilt,  during  Governor  Cornbury's  office,  on 
Leland's  and  Taylor's  farms  near  the  junction  of  St.  Anthony 
Kill,  partly  in  Half -Moon  and  partly  in  Saratoga. 

Gov.  Francis  Lovelace,  as  early  as  1670,  granted  Robert 
Sanders  a  portion  of  the  south  end  of  "Stone  Arabia,"  or 
Diamond  Rock  Patent,  extending  from  Unuwat's  Castle  of 
Soquon's  Hoosacs,  south  to  Piscawen's  Kill  in  Troy.     Nine 


66  The  Hoosac  Valley 

years  later  Gov.  Thomas  Dongan  granted  Robert  Sanders 
the  Passquassic  Patent,  including  the  pine  woods  of  Green- 
bosch  and  Whale  Island,  now  submerged,  for  an  annual  quit- 
rent  of  three  bushels  of  winter  wheat.  The  north  end  of 
"  Stone  Arabia  Patent/'  extending  from  Diamond  Rock 
north  to  Paensick  Kill,  was  granted  to  Johannes  Wendel 
by  Governor  Dongan,  July  22,  1686. 

The  Kayonderossera  Tract,  originally  known  as  Ochser- 
antogue  and  later  as  Schuylerville  Patent,  was  purchased  of 
the  Mahicansac  sachems.  Governor  Dongan,  in  1682,  con- 
firmed the  patent  to  Pieter  Philipsen  Schuyler,  Cornelius 
Van  Dyck,  Jan  Jansen  Bleecker,  Johannes  Wendel,  Dirck 
Wessels,  David  Schuyler,  and  Robert  Livingston,  for  an 
annual  quit -rent  of  twenty  bushels  of  winter  wheat.  The 
Schuyler  Patent  covered  265  square  miles,  including  six 
miles  in  width  on  each  bank  of  the  Hudson,  from  St. 
Anthony  Kill  and  Hoosac  River,  north  to  the  junction  of 
the  Batten  Kill. 

The  first  settler  north  of  the  junction  of  the  Hoosac  River 
was  the  fur-trader,  Bartholomew  Van  Hogleboom.  His 
Christian  name  "  Bart  "  was  given  to  the  stream  known  once 
as  Bart's  Kill,  now  called  the  Batten  Kill.  The  hamlet  of 
Dovegat,  now  Coveville,  north  of  Stillwater,  was  first  settled  by 
Protestant  Frenchmen  banished  by  the  Jesuits  from  Canada. 
Among  these  were  Antoine  Lespinard,  John  Van  Loon,  the 
Du  Bisons,  Lafleurs,  and  Villeroys.  Lespinard  Street,  New 
York  City,  was  named  in  honor  of  Antoine  Lespinard. 

The  venerable  King  Aepjen  and  his  councillors  of  the 
Abenakis  Democracy,  upon  the  approach  of  King  William's 
War,  between  1683  and  1685,  deeded  Bear  Island  and  the 
Taconac  Tract  to  Robert  Livingston  and  other  Albany 
gentlemen.  Governor  Dongan  in  1686  also  granted  Col. 
Pieter  Schuyler,  first  Mayor  of  Albany,  charter  privileges  to 
negotiate  with  Soquon  and  Maquon  for  five  hundred  acres 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts    67 

of  their  Hoosac  or  ' '  Schaahtecogue  Tract,"  and  a  thousand 
acres  of  the  Mahicansacs'  ' l Tionnonderoga  Tract." 

The  most  northern  Dutch  settlement  of  Albany  County, 
N.  Y.,  in  1689  proved  to  be  that  of  the  fur-trader,  Bartel 
Vrooman,  and  six  other  families  at  Old  Saratoga.  A  pali- 
sade was  built  about  Vrooman' s  house,  and  Lieut.  Jochem 
Staats,  Robert  Sanders,  Egbert  Teunise,  and  ten  Hoosac 
and  Mohawk  scouts  were  sent  to  defend  the  hamlet,  until 
it  was  burned  in  the  winter  of  1690. 

The  most  northern  English  settlement  of  Old  Berkshire, 
Mass.,  in  1733  was  the  mission  founded  among  King  Aepjen's 
Mahicansacs  at  Skatecook  village  on  the  site  of  Sheffield. 
Jonathan  Sergeant,  Samuel  Hopkins,  *  Timothy  Woodbridge, 
Ephraim  Williams,  Sr.,  and  others  chartered  the  town  of 
Stockbridge  during  the  summer  of  1739,  and  Col.  John 
Stoddard  and  his  militia  built  a  meeting-house  and  school- 
house  and  patrolled  the  frontier  trails.  The  Scotch-Irish 
who  arrived  from  Londonderry,  Ireland,  in  1718,  located 
farther  north  in  Pelham  and  Coleraine  in  1735,  and  several 
English  settlers  pushed  on  to  Charlemont  and  Pontoosac  in 

1736. 

Thomas  Wells  of  Saybrook,  Conn.,  and  Ephraim  Williams, 
Sr.,  of  Newton,  Mass.,  in  the  spring  of  1739,  petitioned  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  to  survey  the  towns  of  the 
upper  Hoosac.  The  accompanying  survey  of  "East  and 
West  Hoosuck,"  chartered  later  as  Adams  and  Williams- 
town,  was  rendered  by  chairman  Ephraim  Williams,  Sr.,  in 
his  Report  to  the  General  Court  as  follows: 

We  the  subscribers  have  carefully  viewed  the  lands  on  and 
near  Hoosuck  River  and  rinding  the  same  very  accom- 
modable  for  settlement  have  by  the  assistance  of  Timothy 
Dwight,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Nath.  Kellogg,  surveys,  laid  out  three 

1  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  Memoirs  of  the  Housatunnuk  Indians,  1734. 


••A  Pl.n  of  53.040  MM  ol  L.nd  tyinK  on  th.  |M  S.d.  of  A.huw.ticook  Rlvr  «d  South  Br.nch 
Of  Hootuck  R.vtf.  beg'.ng  »t  »  Hemlock  Tr««  rrurk'd  0+. 

••Surveyed    M»y  1739.  by  th*  NtodU  of  th.  »ury.y.ng  inttrum.nt. 

'     '  By  Mr.  NATH.  KELLOGG. 

Surutuoc 


68 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts    69 

townships  (Cheshire,  Adams  and  Williamstown)  each  of 
the  contents  of  six  miles  square.  Two  of  which  adjoyning 
and  lye  on  Hoosuck  River  the  other  on  the  Mayoonsuck 
(Mayoonsac),  being  the  northern  branch  thereof  about  three 
miles  northward  of  the  lowest  of  the  two  towns  all  which  will 
fully  appear  by  the  plans  herewith  humbly  presented.  We 
have  not  perfected  all  the  lines  occasioned  by  the  Great 
Opposition  we  met  with  from  Sundry  Gent'n  from  Albany 
a  particular  account  of  which  we  are  ready  to  lay  before 
y'r  Excellency  and  Honours  if  thereto  required,  and  are 
your  Excellency's  and  Hon's  most  obedient  and  dutiful 
servants. 

Eph'm  Williams    )  Committee. 

Thomas  Wells      ) 
Boston, 
June  6, 1739. 

Owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Gentlemen  of  Albany,  the 
Privy  Council  of  England  on 'March  10,  1741,  advised  Gov. 
Jonathan  Belcher  to  establish  the  northern  boundary  of 
Massachusetts.  Richard  Hazen  of  Haverhill  was  engaged  to 
make  the  survey  and  according  to  his  Journal, x  he  stood  on 
the  highest  peak  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  present 
town  of  Williamstown,  known  as  Mount  Hazen,  on  Satur- 
day morning,  April  12,  1741.  His  piercing  eye  took  in  the 
windings  of  the  intervals  at  his  feet.  Northwest  through 
the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconacs  gleamed  the  sunny  fields  of 
the  "Patroon  of  Hoosac,"  lighted  with  fitful  shadows  and 
sunshine  amid  the  April  showers.  Hazen  doubted  the  rights 
of  the  hearth-logs  of  the  Dutch  burghers  situated  in  the 
Kreigger  Rock  neighborhood  and  about  "  Weeping  Rocks" 
in  Pownal,  Vt.,  near  the  Massachusetts  borders. 

Surveyor  Hazen's  party  arrived  at  the  Indian  war-trail 
on  the  east  bank  of  Hoosac   River,  near  the  junction  of 

1  Boston  Gazette,  Feb.  19,  1754. 


yo  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Rattlesnake  Brook,  during  the  afternoon  and  recorded 
that:  "It  was  with  difficulty  that  we  waded  the  River  and 
lodged  on  ye  West  side.  ...  It  Clouded  over  before  Night 
and  rained  some  time  before  day,  which  caused  us  to  stretch 
Our  blankets  and  lye  under  them  on  ye  bare  ground,  which 
was  the  first  bare  ground  we  laid  on  after  we  left  Northfield." 
The  field  where  Hazen  encamped  is  to-day  known  as  Bas- 
com's  Meadow. 

On  Sunday,  April  13th,  the  surveyors  ascended  Northwest 
Hill  and  continued  west  to  the  summit  of  the  Taconacs. 
They  christened  the  peak,  Mount  Belcher,  in  honor  of  Gov. 
Jonathan  Belcher,  that  it  might  be  a  "Standing  Boundary 
as  Endicutt's  Tree."  The  survey  was  continued  to  the 
Hudson,  and  it  was  reported  to  be  twenty-one  miles  and 
sixty  rods  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Hoosac  River  to 
the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson  at  a  point  eighty  poles 
south  of  the  First  Sprout  of  the  Mohawk  below  Cohoes 
Falls. 

The  western  boundary  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  dis- 
cussed at  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1773.  After  the  Revolution, 
on  December  2,  1785,  Congress  appointed  Thomas  Hutchins, 
John  Ewing,  and  David  Rittenhouse  to  survey  the  line 
and  it  was  established  December  16,  1786.  Controversies 
arose  and  many  years  later  James  Duane,  Robert  Living- 
ston, Robert  Yates,  John  Haring,  Melancthon  Smith,  and 
Egbert  Benson  of  New  York;  and  John  Lowell,  James 
Sullivan,  Theophilus  Parsons,  and  Rufus  King  of  Massa- 
chusetts surveyed  the  present  line,  confirmed  by  Congress, 
January  3,  1855.  Russell  Dorr  of  New  York  and  John  Z. 
Goodrich  of  Massachusetts  set  the  present  State  Line 
markers. 

A  marble  post  now  marks  the  northwest  corner  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  near  it  stands  another  monument  in  Moon 
Hollow,   a  mile   east   of  the  summit   of  Mount   Belcher, 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     71 

denoting  the  southwest  corner  of  Vermont.  The  present 
western  boundary  of  Vermont,  however,  was  not  surveyed 
until  June  8,  18 12. 

While  the  Dutch  and  English  of  New  York  and  New  Eng- 
land were  contending  over  their  boundaries,  the  French  of 
New  France  were  crowding  down  the  Champlain  and  Con- 
necticut valleys,  more  for  religious  supremacy  than  for 
territory  to  colonize.  The  Hoosac  Valley  was  encompassed 
by  three  of  the  most  powerful  strongholds  of  New  England, 
New  York,  and  New  France,  including  Fort  Massachusetts 
on  the  upper  Hoosac,  Fort  Albany  on  the  Hudson,  and  Fort 
St.  Frederic  at  Crown  Point  on  Lake  Champlain.  Indeed 
the  borders  of  the  Hoosacs'  hunting-grounds  were  fortified 
by  as  many  as  forty  stockade  forts  within  seventy-five  miles 
of  the  State  Line  markers  of  Vermont  and  Massachusetts. 
No  less  than  ten  different  forts  occupied  the  exposed 
portals  along  the  war-trails  of  the  interior  valley  between 
1703  and  1777. 

Some  time  after  the  English  conquest,  the  Duke  of  York 
ascended  the  throne  as  King  James  II.  In  July,  1688,  before 
the  close  of  his  reign,  he  confirmed  the  Hoosac  Patent  covering 
the  meadow-land  in  central  Hoosac.  In  December,  following, 
he  fled  to  King  Louis  XIV.  of  France  and  was  succeeded  by 
King  William  of  Holland.  During  the  English  Revolution, 
the  Roman  Catholic  adherents  of  King  James  II.  in  the 
colonies  met  the  opposition  of  King  William's  Separatist 
Councils.  Those  religious  and  political  bickerings  among 
the  Albany  Gentlemen  resulted  in  the  Dutch  village  of 
Corlear,  now  Schenectady,  being  left  without  proper  guards. 
On  February  8,  1690,  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
French  soldiers,  headed  by  the  Mohawk  sachem  Kryn,  with 
eight  of  his  Caughnawagas  and  sixteen  Algonquins  entered 
Fort  Schenectady  and  massacred  sixty  settlers  and  captured 
ninety  prisoners.     The  aged  and  children  were  abandoned 


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Original  copy  oflloosac  Patent,  one  of  the  first  tracts  purchased  by 
the  Christians  of  the  Schaghticoke  sachems  in  the  interior  Hoosac 
Valley.    The  Hoosac  Patent  was  granted  and  confirmed  by  Gov.  Thomas 

72 


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Dongan  during  reign  of  King  James  II. ,  July  28, 1688.  It  is  recorded  in 
Vol.  VI.  of  Patents  (pp.  344-345) ,  at  Office  of  Secretary  of  State,  Albany 
Capitol. 

73 


74  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  twenty-five  lost  their  limbs  on  the  frigid  flight  through 
the  snow  to  Albany. 

At  that  time  the  Iroquois  were  contemplating  an  alliance 
with  either  the  English  or  French  before  King  William's 
War.  The  Onondaga  Council  met  in  April  following  the 
Massacre  of  Schenectady,  and  Governor  Bellamont  sent 
Arnout  Cornelisen  Viele,  sire  of  Louis  Viele  of  Fort  Schagh- 
ticoke  village,  as  the  sole  representative  of  the  English. 
He  was  joined  at  Albany,  however,  April  14th,  by  Johannes 
Schuyler,  John  Bleecker,  and  John  Baptist  Van  Eps.  The 
party  arrived  at  Onondaga  Castle  four  days  later  and  found 
the  Council  in  full  session.  The  Jesuit  Fathers  from  Canada, 
clad  in  flowing  black  gowns  or  cassocks,  together  with  the 
gaily  uniformed  French  officers,  were  lavishing  presents 
among  the  councillors.  La  Grande  Gueule  (the  eloquent 
orator)  had  nearly  been  won  by  the  French,  and  a  careless 
word  of  Viele's  might  have  enraged  the  menacing  assem- 
blage about  the  blazing  council-fire. 

Viele,  equal  to  his  charge  as  the  English  diplomatist,  first 
hung  the  Protestant  belt  of  wampum  of  "Brother  Corlear" 
beside  "  Yonnondio's  "  Roman  Catholic  belt  so  that  the 
councillors  need  not  call  his  message  "an  empty  word."  He 
then  referred  to  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  scouts  situated  at 
Skeetcook  and  Skatecook  on  the  Hoosac,  and  said:  "They 
are  well  placed  and  a  good  guard;  they  are  our  children, 
and  we  shall  take  care  that  they  do  their  duty."  He  knew 
that  it  would  please  the  Mohawk  sachem  Kryn  and  the 
Onondaga  sachem  Geronkonte  to  refer  patronizingly  to  their 
Hoosac  conquerors,  under  Soquon  and  Maquon  of  the 
Mahicans,  as  "their  children!"  He  added  that  "  'Brother 
Corlear'  would  build  forts,  chapels,  and  plough  their  corn- 
field and  protect  their  children."  The  Council  closed  April 
28th,  although  neither  the  English  nor  French  had,  as  yet, 
won  a  firm  alliance  with  the  Iroquois. 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     75 

During  August,  1690,  Gen.  Fitz  John  Winthrop  of  Con- 
necticut rallied  several  hundred  colonists  and  set  out  to 
punish  the  Canadas  for  the  massacres  at  Schenectady. 
He  marched  his  troopers  as  far  as  the  drowned  lands 
about  Whitehall  where  many  fell  ill,  and  he  was  forced 
to  return  to  Fort  Albany.  Young  Johannes  Schuyler,  know- 
ing the  doubtful  attitude  of  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac 
scouts,  rallied  one  hundred  warriors  and  forty  Dutch  and 
English  volunteers.  He  marched  to  Canada  and  devastated 
the  country  about  St.  Francois  La  Prairie  village  of 
Kryn's  "Praying  Warriors,"  south  of  Montreal,  and  re- 
turned to  Albany,  August  31st,  only  a  few  days  after 
General  Winthrop. 

The  next  season,  Mayor  Pieter  Schuyler,  an  elder  brother 
of  Capt.  Johannes  Schuyler,  burned  La  Prairie  village,  and 
had  his  party  been  a  trifle  larger,  he  would  have  become 
master  of  Montreal.  Bancroft  considered  Col.  Pieter 
Schuyler,  the  "Washington  of  his  time."  The  Mohawk  and 
Hoosac  scouts  called  him  Quider  (the  Indian's  Friend)  and 
he  was  appointed  Recording  Secretary  at  the  Indian  Confer- 
ences and  aided  in  winning  the  Iroquois  alliance  for  the 
English. 

One  of  the  largest  conferences  held  at  the  Albany  Court 
House  took  place  in  October,  1700.  The  session  lasted  a 
week  and  Governor  Bellamont  met  fifty  sachems  from  both 
the  Abenakis  and  Iroquois  nations.  The  "City  of  Cannon ' ' 
was  known  thereafter  as  the  "House  of  Peace."  However, 
the  Onondaga  orator  complained  that  "The  Albany  forts 
were  unworthy  the  King  of  England ! "  After  Major-General 
Ingoldsby  and  Captain  Weeme  mustered  the  Fort  Albany 
militia,  the  wise  sachem  discovered  many  of  the  British 
soldiers  to  be  destitute  of  breeches,  shoes,  and  stockings. 
He  exclaimed  sneeringly  to  Governor  Bellamont:  "Do  you 
think  us  such  fools  as  to  believe  a  king  who  cannot  clothe 


76  The  Hoosac  Valley 

his  soldiers  can  protect  us  from  the  French  with  their  1400 
men  all  in  good  condition!" 

Governor  Bellamont  died  in  March,  1701,  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Nanfan  met  the  sachems  again  during  the  summer. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  "Yonnondio,"  Governor  Calliers 
of  New  France,  had  quite  outdone  the  English  during  June 
in  caressing  the  "Mourning  Sachem,"  Geronkonte  of  the 
Onondagas,  on  both  cheeks,  he  deeded  King  William  III.  the 
Iroquois  hunting-grounds  between  Lake  Erie,  Ontario, 
and  Huron  in  July,  1701,  and  made  a  firm  alliance  with 
the  English. 

However,  during  Queen  Anne's  War  in  1704,  unknown  to 
"Brother  Corlear,"  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  scouts  made 
a  treaty  of  peace  with  their  Caughnawagas  and  St.  Francis 
kindred  under  the  Jesuits  of  Canada,  not  to  molest  each 
other's  domains.  The  Hoosac-Housatcnac  rivers  were 
agreed  upon  as  a  line  of  neutrality,  and  all  of  Father  Rale's 
scalping  forays  were  sent  against  the  English  Pilgrims  of 
New  England  east  of  that  line.  The  Dutch  settlers  west  of 
that  line  were  not  molested  until  about  the  opening  of  King 
George's  War.  As  a  result  of  the  treaty,  the  Canadas  accom- 
panying Hertel  de  Rouville  burned  Deerfield  in  March,  1704, 
and  four  years  later  Haverhill  on  the  Merrimac  was  de- 
stroyed by  flames.  The  English  captives  in  each  instance 
were  led  to  Montreal  and  thence  to  Quebec's  prison-pens — 
the  headquarters  of  the  Governor-General  and  his  Jesuit 
chaplains. 

Father  Sebastian  Rale  was  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Jesuit  palisaded  mission  towns  for  forty  years  and  resided 
at  Norridgewock  on  the  upper  Kennebec  in  the  King's 
Woods  of  Maine,  between  1695  and  1724.  He  was  a  Latin 
scholar  and  compiled  an  Abenakis  Dictionary,  founded  on 
Latin  derivations,  which  is  now  deposited  in  Harvard  Uni- 
versity Library.     Not  only  did  he  teach  his  warriors  to  read, 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     77 

write,  pray,  and  fight,  but  he  replaced  their  Kinte-kaye 
(Devil-dance)  with  a  mock  ceremony  of  absolution,  during 
which  he  hoisted  the  banner  of  the  Church  of  Rome  before 
the  door  of  his  forest  chapel,  "on  which  was  depicted  a  cross 
surrounded  by  bows  and  arrows!" 

The  governors  of  New  York  and  New  England  often 
urged  the  kindred  of  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts  situ- 
ated at  St.  Francis  and  St.  Regis  Jesuit  missions,  to  return 
to  Schaghticoke  villages  on  the  Housatonac  and  Hoosac 
under  King  Aepjen  and  Soquon.  The  Albany  and  Boston 
traders,  however,  charged  double  the  London  and  Montreal 
prices  for  food,  clothing,  and  firearms.  The  sachems  replied 
that :  "  As  soon  as  Ye  goods  are  cheaper  then  we  will  return 
and  consult  about  having  Ministers  in  our  Castles,  to  instruct 
us  in  Ye  Christian  faith,  for  then  we  can  afford  to  buy  a  good 
honest  Coat  to  go  to  Church  with  all,  which  we  cannot  now, 
but  it  would  be  scandalous  to  come  to  Church  with  a  Bear 
Skin  on  our  Backs!" 

A  price  was  finally  set  upon  Father  Rale's  head  by  the 
New  England  governors.  His  mission  village  was  burned 
three  times:  first  in  1704,  again  in  1722,  and  on  August  12, 
1724,  Captains  Moulton  and  Harmon  surprised  the  town. 
Lieutenant  Jaques  broke  down  Father  Rale's  mission-house 
door,  and  he  was  slain  at  the  foot  of  his  mission  cross  in 
company  with  twenty-six  veteran  warriors.  The  venerable 
sachem,  Mogg  Megone,  described  by  Whittier,  was  among 
the  captives  taken  to  Boston  and  Rales  village  was  left  in 
ashes  for  the  third  and  last  time. 

On  June  30,  1703,  at  the  opening  of  Queen  Anne's  War, 
Governor  Cornbury  reported  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  that  he 
had  repaired  the  stone  Fort  Schenectady  and  built  the  stock- 
ade Fort  Nastagione  (St.  Ange)  on  Green  Island,  Fort 
Half- Moon  at  the  junction  of  St.  Anthony  Kill  at  Stillwater, 
and  Fort  Schaghticoke  near  the  junction  of  the  Tomhannac 


78  The  Hoosac  Valley 

with  the  Hoosac.  Those  forts  cost  nearly  £80  each,  and 
he  proposed  building  another  stockade  at  Saratoga  in  order 
to  give  satisfaction  to  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  scouts  patrol- 
ling the  war-trails. 

Fort  Saratoga  was  built  six  years  later,  during  Francis 
Nicholson's  siege  against  the  Canadas  in  1709.  Col.  Pieter 
Schuyler  and  three  hundred  soldiers  of  Nicholson's  army, 
composed  of  fifteen  thousand  men,  were  sent  ahead  to  build 
forts  and  military  roads.  Fort  Ingoldsby  was  erected  on 
the  site  of  Fort  Half-Moon  in  Stillwater,  Fort  Saratoga  near 
the  ford  over  the  Hudson  north  of  Greenwich  highway 
bridge,  Fort  Nicholson  at  the  Carrying  Place  on  the  site  of 
Fort  Edward,  and  Fort  Anne  at  Wood  Creek  Forks  on  the 
site  of  Whitehall.  Nicholson's  first  expedition,  like  his 
second  in  171 1,  met  defeat  before  he  reached  Canada.  He 
burned  Forts  Anne  and  Nicholson  and  marched  his  troopers 
back  to  Fort  Albany.  At  the  close  of  Queen  Anne's  War 
in  1 7 13  Forts  Saratoga,  Ingoldsby,  and  Schaghticoke  were 
the  only  frontier  ramparts  of  Albany.  At  least  six  different 
stockade  forts  were  built  at  Old  Saratoga  between  the  found- 
ing of  Fort  Vrooman  in  1690  and  Fort  Clinton  in  1746. 

The  log  stockade  forts  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts 
had  to  be  repaired  or  rebuilt  about  every  five  years.  Philip 
Livingston  rebuilt  Fort  Saratoga  during  October  1721  under 
the  command  of  Capt.  William  Helling.  But  during  the  inter- 
val between  17 13  and  the  opening  of  King  George's  War  in 
1 744,  there  were  thirty-one  years  of  peace  along  the  New  York 
frontier,  but  frequent  savage  forays  took  place  on  the  New 
England  border  east  of  the  Hoosac-Housatonac  rivers. 
The  Albany  and  Boston  officials  did  not  build  any  formidable 
defences  flanking  New  France,  although  the  French  during 
peace  prepared  for  conquest.  The  Governor-General  spent 
$5,000,000  building  the  " Gibraltar  Fortress"  on  Cape 
Breton  Island,  at  Louisburgh,  Nova  Scotia;  and  on  May  18, 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts    79 

1 73 1,  a  log  stockade  was  completed  at  Chimney  Point  on 
Lake  Champlain  and  christened  Fort  St.  Frederic.  The 
latter  fort,  a  menacing  one,  was  only  forty  miles  north  of 
Fort  Saratoga,  and  about  seventy-five  from  Fort  Albany 
and  the  site  of  Fort  Massachusetts  of  the  Dutch  and  English. 

Three  years  later,  in  1734,  the  log  stockade,  Fort  St. 
Frederic,  was  replaced  by  a  limestone,  bomb-proof  fortress, 
second  in  strength  only  to  the  stronghold  at  Quebec.  The 
garrison  in  1746  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  soldiers, 
and  the  ramparts,  which  were  twenty-five  feet  thick,  were 
mounted  with  twenty-two  guns.  The  citadel  was  an  octagon 
tower  fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  three  stories  high.  The 
third  story,  a  bomb-proof  chamber,  had  walls  seven  feet 
thick  and  contained  ten  9-pounder  guns,  twenty  patararoes, 
several  blunderbusses,  muskets,  and  pistols  all  ready  for 
action. 

The  same  spring  (1739)  that  Gov.  Jonathan  Belcher  or- 
dered the  survey  of  the  upper  Hoosac  towns,  Lieut  .-Gov. 
George  Clark  of  New  York  "directed  that  a  line  of  forts  be 
erected  between  Albany  and  Saratoga."  During  June,  1744, 
King  George's  War,  known  in  New  England  as  Shirley's 
War,  was  declared.  Gov.  William  Shirley  that  season 
ordered  a  cordon  of  three  or  four  forts  built  four  or  five 
miles  south  of  Hazen's  Line  of  Massachusetts,  at  intervals 
of  six  or  eight  miles  between  Fort  Dummer  on  the  Connec- 
ticut and  the  upper  Hoosac. 

Fort  Shirley  was  completed  in  the  town  of  Heath  on  the 
upper  Deerfield,  October  30,  1744;  Fort  Pelham  in  the  town 
of  Rowe,  five  miles  west  of  Fort  Shirley,  in  the  spring  of  1745 ; 
and  Fort  Massachusetts  in  Adams  on  the  upper  Hoosac, 
fourteen  miles  west  of  Capt.  Moses  Rice's  Charlemont 
Tavern,  during  the  summer  of  1745.  Governor  Clinton  on 
June  5,  1744,  also  garrisoned  Fort  Saratoga,  built  in  1739, 
and  in  1745  rebuilt  the  fort  from  its  foundation.     He  was 


80  The  Hoosac  Valley 

not  able  to  obtain  volunteer  soldiers  willing  to  garrison  the 
fort,  and  it  was  unoccupied  at  the  time  Marin's  massacre 
of  Schuyler's  Mills  took  place  in  November  of  that  season. 

The  cordon  of  Massachusetts  border  forts  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Capt.  William  Williams,  a  nephew  of 
Col.  John  Stoddard,  commander  of  Old  Berkshire  militia 
during  the  spring  of  1745.  In  June,  Governor  Shirley  com- 
missioned William  Williams  colonel  of  a  regiment  in  Gen. 
William  Pepperell's  army  of  New  England  Rangers  which 
was  sent  to  capture  the  " Gibraltar  Fortress"  of  the 
French  at  Louisburgh.  The  command  of  the  border  forts  of 
Massachusetts  fell  to  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  a  half  cousin  of 
Col.  William  Williams.  He  made  his  headquarters  at  Fort 
Shirley,  and  commanded  three  hundred  and  fifty  garrison 
soldiers  posted  at  the  several  forts:  Northfield,  Falltown, 
Coleraine,  Shirley,  Pelham,  Massachusetts,  Collars,  Shat- 
tucks,  Bridgemans,  Deerfield,  Rhodetown,  and  New  Hamp- 
ton. He  also  controlled  the  scouts  patrolling  the  trails 
between  Forts  Number  Four  and  Dummer  on  the  Connec- 
ticut, Forts  Half-Moon,  Saratoga,  Schaghticoke,  St.  Croix, 
Massachusetts,  Pontoosac,  and  Deerfield. 

The  capture  of  the  "Gibraltar"  of  the  French  on  June  8, 
1745,  caused  the  jubilant  colonists  to  ring  the  Boston  and 
Albany  church  bells.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  exclaimed  that 
"God  had  gone  out  of  the  way  of  His  common  providence 
in  a  remarkable  and  miraculous  manner!"  The  New 
England  victory  over  the  French  was  followed  later  by 
revengeful  forays  of  the  Canadas.  Colonel  Marin  and 
Lieutenant  Beauvais  headed  five  hundred  French  and  St. 
Francis  warriors  down  the  Hudson  during  the  autumn. 
The  chaplain,  Abbe  Francois  Picquet,  pointed  out  Schuyler's 
Mills  on  the  map  as  a  prize  to  capture.  The  settlement 
then  contained  thirty-one  dwellings,  four  large  mills,  many 
barns  and  barracks  for  slaves.     Schuyler's  brick  mansion 


Mahican  Boundaries  and  Christian  Forts     81 

contained  loopholes  for  the  discharge  of  small  guns;  but, 
like  Fort  Saratoga,  half  a  mile  south,  it  was  without  a  garri- 
son when  Marin's  half  frozen  warriors  entered  the  sleeping 
hamlet  on  November  8,  1745. 

Lieutenant  Beauvais,  personally  acquainted  with  Philip 
Pieterse  Schuyler,  entered  his  mansion  and  demanded  his 
surrender,  promising  him  personal  protection.  The  patroon, 
however,  refused  to  ask  for  quarter  and  was  slain  with 
thirty  other  settlers.  One  hundred  and  one  captives  were 
taken,  half  of  whom  were  Negro  slaves.  The  patrolling 
scout,  Robert  Sanders,  and  his  family  were  the  only  settlers 
to  make  their  escape  to  Albany.  The  massacre  was  closed 
before  sunrise  and  the  captives,  half  clad,  and  many  of  them 
barefooted,  were  forced  to  march  over  the  frozen  trail  to  the 
Lydius  Mansion,  which  was  the  most  northern  English  settle- 
ment of  the  New  York  frontier  on  the  site  of  Fort  Edward. 
The  party  was  joined  there  by  eleven  other  captives  and 
arrived  at  Fort  St.  Frederic  December  3d;  and  five  days 
later  the  captives  were  placed  in  Montreal  prison-pens. 

During  March,  1746,  Gov.  George  Clinton  completed  a  fort 
at  Schuyler's  Mills  which  was  christened  Fort  Clinton,  but 
it  was  impossible  to  find  volunteer  soldiers  brave  enough  to 
garrison  the  fort.  At  last  Capt.  Henry  Livingston,  in  No- 
vember, headed  four  companies  of  regulars  from  Fort  Albany 
and  mounted  twelve  large  cannon  on  the  ramparts.  In 
March,  1747,  Lieutenant  Herbin  headed  a  party  of  French 
and  St.  Francis  warriors  down  the  Hudson  and  attempted  to 
burn  Fort  Clinton. 

Captain  Livingston  was  succeeded  in  June,  1747,  by  Cap- 
tain Jordan,  and  Gen.  Rigaud  de  Vaudreuil  (known  as 
General  Rigaud  by  historians,  in  order  to  distinguish  him 
from  his  brother,  Gov.  Pierre  Rigaud  de  Vaudreuil,  com- 
monly spoken  of  as  de  Vaudreuil)  sent  Lieut.  Le  Corne  St. 
Luc  with  two  hundred  Indians  and  twenty  Frenchmen  to 


82  The  Hoosac  Valley 

attempt  again  to  burn  Fort  Clinton.  They  failed  to  accom- 
plish the  work,  after  which  General  Rigaud  and  his  war- 
party  arrived.  They,  too,  were  forced  to  return  to  Fort 
St.  Frederic  without  setting  a  torch  to  the  stockade. 

The  last  garrison  of  Fort  Clinton  consisted  of  New  Jersey 
troops  under  the  command  of  Col.  Pieter  Schuyler.  Owing 
to  colonial  bickerings,  the  food  supply  ran  short,  and  two 
hundred  and  twenty  hungry  soldiers  shouldered  their  guns 
and  deserted  their  post.  Only  forty  men  remained  to 
defend  the  guns,  under  Colonel  Schuyler.  After  this  news 
reached  Governor  Clinton  in  New  York  City,  he  ordered  the 
ill-placed  fort  burned.  A  torch  was  set  to  the  ruins  October 
5,  1747,  after  Colonel  Schuyler  had  removed  the  cannon  to 
Stillwater.  A  few  years  ago  a  pile  of  British  cannon  was 
unearthed  on  Quock  Island,  in  the  Hudson  opposite  Me- 
chanicsville.  They  are  believed  to  have  been  the  remnants 
of  Fort  Clinton's  artillery,  buried  there  by  Colonel  Schuyler 
in  1747. 

The  forests  stretching  between  Stillwater  and  Fort  St. 
Frederic  until  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  in  1763  were 
left  to  wandering  war-parties  of  French  and  Indians.  After 
the  Fall  of  Quebec  in  the  autumn  of  1759,  General  Wolfe 
found  in  the  Archives  of  the  fortress  Colonel  Marin's  Jour- 
nal,  relating  to  the  massacre  of  Schuyler's  Mills  in  Old 
Saratoga  during  1745.  It  was  later  presented  to  Gen. 
Philip  Schuyler  of  Revolutionary  fame,  and  is  now  among 
the  valuable  relics  in  his  Old  Mansion  at  Schuylerville. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FORT    SCHAGHTICOKE    AND    KNICKERBACKER' S   COLONY 

1676-1759 

Here  clad  in  ancient  honor,  dwelt 

The  Knickerbacker  race, 
And  wisely  ruled  in  hall  and  bower, 
And  held  their  old  manorial  power 

With  firm  and  honest  grace. 
Mrs.  Sigourney,  Schaghticoke  and  the  Knickerbacker s. 

Hoosac  Patent,  1688 — King  William's  War,  1689 — Queen  Anne's  War,  1703 — 
Fort  Schaghticoke,  1703 — Knickerbacker  Colony,  1709 — First  Dutch 
Church,  1714 — Mahican  and  Mohawk  Sachem's  Visit  to  London,  1710 — 
Death  of  Soquon,  17 10 — King  George's  War,  1744 — Kittlehuyne  Mas- 
sacre, 1746 — French  and  Indian  War  and  Last  of  the  Schaghticokes, 
1754 — Queen  Esther's  Pilgrimages  to  Witenagemot  Vale  of  Peace — 
Soquon's  Old  Schaghticoke  Burial-Field — Mawwehu's  New  Schaghticoke 
Burial-Field. 

THE  "Gentlemen  of  Albany"  kept  a  covetous  eye  upon 
the  Schaghticokes'  fertile  cornfields  twenty-seven 
years  after  the  planting  of  the  Witenagemot  Oak  in  1676, 
before  Fort  Schaghticoke  was  built  in  1703.  Pieter  Schuy- 
ler, the  first  mayor  of  Albany,  was  granted  charter  privilege 
to  negotiate  for  five  hundred  acres  of  meadow-land  of  the 
"Schaahtecogue  Tract"  on  July  22, 1686,  although  he  failed 
to  do  so,  owing  to  a  general  Indian  uprising  before  King 
William's  War. 

The  first  land  deeded  by  the  Schaghticokes  to  the  Christ- 
ians within  the  environs  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  proper  was  the 
Hoosac  Patent.  ■    The  patent  was  granted  by  Gov.  Thomas 

1  See  Chapter  III,  pp.  72-73. 

83 


84  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Dongan  on  June  2, 1688,  to  Maria  Van  Resnselaer  and  Hen- 
drick  Van  Ness  of  Albany,  Garret  Tunisson  (Van  Vechten) 
of  Catskill,  and  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  of  New  York  City, 
and  confirmed  by  the  Duke  of  York,  as  King  James  II.,  in 

July. 

The  Hoosac  Patent  covered  seventy  thousand  acres, 
including  two  miles  in  width  on  each  bank  of  Skatecook 
Creek  (Hoosac  River  of  blended  waters) ;  and  extended  up 
the  river  from  the  Devil's  Chimney  opposite  the  Fallen-hill 
in  Old  Schaghticoke  to  Falls  Quequick ;  thence  up  the  valley 
to  the  sandy  island  known  as  Nach-a-quick-quack,  the 
Ashawagh,  or  land  between  the  junction  of  the  Little  Hoosac 
with  the  Big  Hoosac.  The  annual  quit-rent  exacted  for 
this  vast  manor-land  was  "ten  Bushells  of  good  Sweet  Mer- 
chantable winter  Wheat,  delivered  Att  the  City  of  Albany." 

During  the  opening  raids  of  King  William's  War,  in  1689, 
Hendrick  Van  Rensselaer  of  Fort  Crailo  partly  negotiated 
with  Captain  Soquon  for  a  tract  six  miles  square  in  Old 
Schaghticoke,  although  the  deed  was  not  confirmed  until 
1707  during  Queen  Anne's  War.  Meanwhile,  Hendrick  Van 
Ness  transferred  half  of  his  right  in  Hoosac  Patent  to  his 
brother  Jan  Van  Ness  on  February  17,  1699,  and  on  October 
18,  1706,  Hendrick  Van  Ness  and  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt 
deeded  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer  and  Johannes  Van  Vechten 
the  shares  of  their  parents,  Maria  Van  Rensselaer  and 
Garret  Tunisson-Van  Vechten.  Later  on,  November  16th, 
Hendrick  Van  Ness  and  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  gave  each 
other  mutual  release  of  joint  tenancy  of  their  Hoosac  Patent 
manor-lands. 

The  Moravian  missionaries  of  Count  Zinzendorf's  staff, 
laboring  among  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts  in  1742, 
preserved  the  tradition  that  Soquon  and  Maquon  were  held 
"chief est  in  dignity"  among  the  Indian  councillors  who  met 
the  royal  Governors  at  the  Albany  Conferences  held  in  the 


85 


86  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Old  Court  House.  Maquon,  known  as  Minichqua,  received 
a  mortal  wound  from  a  party  of  four  Negro  slaves  while  visi- 
ting Albany  during  the  summer  of  1702.  He  lamented  that 
his  death  should  be  caused  by  those  who  had  "no  courage  of 
heart,"  but  Soquon  in  his  speech  to  Governor  Cornbury  said : 
"Upon  his  death  bed,  our  Great  Sachem  desired  that  no 
revenge  should  be  taken,  saying  that  he  forgave  his  offenders 
and  prayed  that  they  might  be  reprieved. "  Maquon  was 
beloved  and  honored  as  the  Mahican  Hero  and  war-captain 
during  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  War,  "and  his  last  wish 
associates  with  his  memory,' '  says  Ruttenber,  "the  noble 
attributes  of  the  Gods."  He  was  buried  in  the  Schaghti- 
cokes'  burial-field  west  of  the  Council  Tree ;  and  the  principal 
Negro  offender  causing  his  death  was  executed  by  order  of 
Governor  Cornbury  on  August  19,  1702. 

Upon  the  approach  of  Queen  Anne's  War,  Governor 
Cornbury  directed  Secretary  Robert  Livingston,  to  build 
Fort  Schaghticoke  during  the  early  spring  of  1703  on  the 
"Great  Meadow,"  a  mile  east  of  the  Council  Tree,  near 
the  Old  Schaghticoke  highway.  The  watch-towers  oc- 
cupied the  exposed  angles  of  the  stockade.  The  cellars 
of  the  barracks  within  the  stockade  were  ploughed  down 
a  century  ago,  but  are  still  indicated  by  grass-grown  hol- 
lows near  the  ancient  apple-trees  in  the  meadow  north  of 
the  red  schoolhouse.  The  Louis  Viele  well,  known  as  the 
Nancy  and  Rebecca  Groesbeck  well  to-day,  with  its  ancient 
sweep,  near  the  corner  of  Old  Schaghticoke  and  Reynolds 
roads,  was  undoubtedly  used  as  the  fort  well.  The  "God's 
Acre"  is  believed  to  have  been  located  southwest  of  the 
stockade,  near  the  border  of  the  Groesbeck  orchard,  south 
of  Col.  William  Knickerbacker's  mansion,  known  to-day  as 
the  Barnett  Place. 

Governor  Cornbury  reported  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  June 
30,  1703,  that  Fort  Schaghticoke  cost  about  £80  and  that 


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87 


88  The  Hoosac  Valley 

he  considered  it  one  of  the  most  important  out-posts  of 
Albany.  It  proved  the  headquarters  of  the  River  Indian 
scouts,  composed  of  Hoosacs  and  Mohawks,  engaged  to 
patrol  the  Ticonderoga  war-paths  of  the  French  and  St. 
Francis  warriors.  There  were  nearly  one  thousand  warriors 
located  in  the  Hoosac  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters  under  the 
command  of  Soquon  in  1703,  including  his  old  Hoosacs  or 
Soquonsacs,  known  as  Schaghticokes,  Pennacocks,  Abnaquis, 
Pequots,  Narragansetts,  and  Wampanoags  of  New  England 
forests,  and  their  kindred  Mahicansacs  of  the  Catskill  and 
Helderberg  and  the  Mohawk  hunting-grounds. 

The  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  warriors  between  1676  and  1703 
had  degenerated  because  of  the  use  of  the  fur-traders'  rum 
to  such  an  extent  that  Soquon  could  not  be  relied  upon  to 
command  Fort  Schaghti coke's  scouts.  Governor  Cornbury 
and  his  Council  urged  a  stalwart  leader  to  head  a  colony  of 
Dutch  tenantry  from  Albany  and  locate  in  Old  Schaghticoke, 
not  only  to  command,  but  to  Christianize  the  Hoosacs  and 
Mohawks.  On  February  28,  1707,  Mayor  David  Davidse 
Schuyler  of  Albany  secured  Soquon's  deed  to  the  "Schaah- 
tecogue  Tract  2  by  2  by  12  by  14  miles  in  extent."  The 
north  line  began  at  a  point  in  centre  of  Hudson  River  two 
miles  south  of  the  junction  of  the  Skatecook  Creek-Hoosac 
River — and  extended  east  twelve  miles.  The  south  line 
two  miles  below  the  north  line  extended  from  the  centre 
of  Hudson  River  east  fourteen  miles,  parallel  with  the  north 
line.  The  tract  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  lands  owned 
by  Barent  Albertse  Bratt  and  Egbert  Teunis. 

At  the  same  time,  Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker  of 
Albany  negotiated  with  the  venerable  seer  Soquon  for  the 
deed  to  his  Witenagemot  Manor  west  of  the  ancient  channel 
of  Tomhannac  Creek  and  south  of  the  Hoosac  River.  Both 
the  Knickerbacker  and  Schuyler  tracts  were  confirmed  by 
Queen  Anne  during  December,  1707.     It  is  recorded  that 


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90  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Mayor  David  Davidse  Schuyler  and  the  Albany  Council 
rendered  Soquon  and  his  councillors  as  payment  for  their 
tracts,  granted  February  28, 1707 :  "  2  blankets,  12  duffel-cloth 
coats,  20  shirts,  2  gunns,  12  pounds  of  powder,  36  pounds  of 
lead,  8  gallons  of  rum,  2  casks  of  beer,  2  rolls  of  tobacco,  10 
gallons  of  Madeira  wine  and  a  number  of  pipes."  Soquon 
was  to  continue  to  receive  annually  in  the  month  of  October 
for  ten  years:  "1  blanket,  1  shirt,  1  pair  of  stockings,  1  lap 
or  apron,  1  keg  of  rum,  3  pounds  of  powder,  6  pounds  of  lead, 
and  12  pounds  of  tobacco."  Besides,  twelve  acres  of  the  tract 
granted  was  fenced  at  the  city's  expense  and  set  apart  as  a 
planting-ground  for  Soquon  and  his  chieftains,  who  deeded 
the  Schaghticoke  Tract  to  the  Christians,  in  order  to  protect 
the  Indian  cornfields  from  the  Dutch  burghers'  pigs  and  cows. 
This  twelve-acre  cornfield,  known  as  Tioshoke,  was  located 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  near  the  junction  of  the 
Ticonderoga  trail  of  the  Owl  Kill  with  the  Hoosac  Road. 

The  western  line  of  Hoosac  Patent  remained  indefinitely 
bounded  upon  the  eastern  border  of  the  "  Schaagtehogue 
Tract"  until  the  Albany  Mayor,  Robert  Sanders,  or  his 
successor,  Johannes  Hansen,  in  1754,  commissioned  John  J. 
Bleecker  of  Old  Schaghticoke  to  survey  both  tracts  and  estab- 
lish the  present  known  bounds.  The  western  line  of  the 
Hoosac  Patent  abuts  on  the  Schaghticoke  Tract,  bearing 
north  200  through  a  marked  pine  tree  on  the  "Fallen-hill," 
opposite  the  Devil's  Chimney. 

Gov.  John  Lovelace,  who  succeeded  Governor  Cornbury  in 
December,  1708,  directed  the  Schaghticoke  Tract  to  be  sur- 
veyed and  divided  into  farms,  and  leased  to  Dutch  tenantry. 
Queen  Anne  of  England,  during  the  spring  of  1709,  appointed 
Col.  Pieter  Schuyler  councillor  and  Richard  Ingoldsby 
governor  of  New  York,  and  despatched  an  army  of  British 
regulars  to  Albany  to  defend  the  New  York  frontier  against 
the  French  and  St.  Francis  warriors  from  Canada. 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker  s  Colony  91 

Johannes  Knickerbacker,  eldest  son  of  Herman  Jansen 
Knickerbacker,  on  October,  13,  1709,  leased  the  first  farm  on 
the  Schaghticoke  Tract.  It  contained  ' '  30  morgens ' ' — about 
sixty  acres  and  he  contracted  to  pay  an  annual  quit-rent  of 
14 16  pounds  and  10  shillings  "  to  be  rendered  in  "  ZIY2  bushels 
of  good  merchantable  winter  wheat."  At  that  time  Captain 
Knickerbacker  was  about  thirty  years  of  age  and  a  miller 
and  master  brick-maker  by  trade.  He  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  Fort  Schaghticoke  and  founded  the  Knickerbacker 
Colony.  He  was  joined  by  his  father,  then  sixty-one  years 
old,  and  several  of  their  trusted  neighbors  from  Albany: 
Johannes  De  Wanderlaer,  Johannes  Heermans  Vischer, 
Curset  Voeder,  Louis  Viele,  Derrick  Van  Vechten,  Martin 
De  Lamotte,  Wcuter  and  Adriance  Quackenbosch,  Pieter 
Yates,  David  Schuyler,  Wouter  Groesbeck,  Philip  Livingston, 
Ignace  Kipp,  and  Cornelius  Van  Denburgh. 

The  Knickerbackers,  log  dwelling  was  built  on  the  site 
of  the  present  brick  colonial  mansion,  a  mile  west  of  Fort 
Schaghticoke,  near  the  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  Tree. 
The  first  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  of  the  settlement  were  built 
about  the  same  time  as  the  stockade  fort  in  1703,  on  the 
Abraham  Viele  brook — a  branch  of  the  Tomhannac  Creek 
below  Buttermilk  Falls,  a  mile  east  of  the  fort.  Those  mills 
proved  to  be  the  first  mills  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson 
north  of  Greenbush.  The  mill-stone  is  still  doing  duty  as 
door-stone  to  William  P.  Button's  house,  standing  on  the 
site  of  the  Abraham  Viele  homestead.  The  mill-dam  was 
located  ten  rods  north  of  the  Viele  house,  in  the  dark  ravine 
leading  to  Spook  Hollow,  where,  during  1878,  one  of  the 
timbers  two  feet  in  diameter  was  unearthed. 

Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker,  sire  of  Capt.  Johannes 
Knickerbacker  1st,  was  a  son  of  Johannes  Van  Bergen 
Knickerbacker,  born  in  Friesland,  Holland,  in  1648.  He 
entered  the  Dutch  Navy  and  served  under  General  Van 


92  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Tromp  and  General  De  Ruyter  during  the  Netherlands* 
period  of  naval  victories,  and  was  wounded  in  the  Battle 
of  Solebay  off  the  English  coast,  where  the  Dutch  war-ships 
were  attacked  by  the  combined  force  of  the  English  and 
French  war-fleets.  Later  young  Knickerbacker  and  Jo- 
hannes De  Ruyter,  Jr.,  were  commissioned  to  sail  for  Fort 
Orange  in  New  Netherland.  Both  settled  in  Hoosac  Valley, 
Knickerbacker  on  the  lower  Hoosac  and  De  Ruyter  in 
central  Hoosac. 

Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker  married  the  daughter  of 
Dr.  Myndert  Hermance  Van  De  Bogert  of  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y.,  the  famous  surgeon  of  the  Dutch  war-ship,  Endraaght, 
whom  Gov.  Peter  Stuyvesant  appointed  commissary-general 
of  Fort  Orange  for  a  time.  He  often  held  political  contro- 
versies with  testy  Peter  and  once  attempted  to  throw  the 
lordly  ruler  overboard  while  crossing  over  Hudson  ferry. 
Dr.  Van  De  Bogert 's  ungovernable  temper  is  said  to  have 
caused  his  own  violent  death. 

On  his  maternal  side,  Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker 
hailed  from  the  Jansen  family  of  Masterlandt,  and  was  a 
kinsman  of  Roelof  Jansen,  the  opper-bouwmeester  (chief 
farm-master) ,  of  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer's  manor  of  Rens- 
selaerwyck,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  in  1631.  Young 
Knickerbacker  was  said  to  be  a  master  Knickerbocker — 
(brick-maker).  Washington  Irving  as  "Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker," author  of  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York  in 
1809,  records  that:  "The  Knickerbockers  were  the  folk  who 
lay  stones  upon  their  houses  in  windy  weather  lest  they 
should  be  blown  away."  Others  say  that  the  name  arose 
from  i(Knicker — to  shake,  and  Beker — a  goblet,"  which 
distinguished  the  race  as  being  "sturdy  toss-pots  of  yore." 
Old  "  Diedrich  Knickerbocker"  believed  that  the  true  origins 
of  the  name  arose  from  ilKnicker — to  nod,  and  Bo  ken — 
books,"  signifying  that  his  Friesland  ancestors  were  "great 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  93 

nodders  or  dozers  over  books."  True  to  their  Holland 
origins,  they  produced  brick-makers,  book-makers,  and 
innumerable  ' '  toss-pots ! " 

Capt.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  1st,  of  Fort  Schaghticoke 
was  the  eldest  son  among  Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker's 
seven  children,  and  inherited  the  Knickerbacker  homestead 
at  Old  Schaghticoke  on  the  Hoosac;  and  to  Lawrence,  his 
younger  brother,  was  left  the  Van  De  Bogert  homestead  in 
Housatonac  Valley.  The  oldest  frame  house  in  the  Fort 
Schaghticoke  colony  was  the  homestead  of  Cornelius  Van 
Denburgh.  It  was  built  in  1732,  opposite  Van  Denburgh's 
ferry,  between  Old  Schaghticoke  and  Stillwater,  and  the 
date  in  iron  figures,  still  found  on  the  huge  chimney , 
undoubtedly  marks  the  oldest  house  of  the  Hoosac  Valley 
founders.     It  is  now  owned  by  Frank  Pruyn. 

In  1704,  the  Church  of  England  sent  Thoroughgood  Moor 
as  chaplain  to  labor  among  the  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  scouts 
at  Fort  Schaghticoke  and  other  outposts  of  Fort  Albany. 
He  won  the  enmity  of  the  Dutch  and  English  fur-traders  by 
preaching  against  the  sale  of  beer  and  rum  to  the  River 
Indians,  and  was  forced  to  retire  to  New  York  City  in 
August,  1705.  Thomas  Barclay  was  appointed  chaplain  of 
the  Albany  border  forts  three  years  later,  and  while  at 
Fort  Anne  in  September,  17 10,  he,  too,  complained  that  the 
degenerated  warriors  were  lost  to  all  that  was  noble  or  good, 
through  use  of  the  Christians'  rum. 

The  Council  of  Albany  during  the  autumn  of  1709  con- 
ceived of  a  scheme  to  impress  the  last  of  the  Mahican  and 
Mohawk  sachems  of  the  military  power  of  England.  To 
figure  in  this  they  chose  the  venerable  Soquon  of  Great 
Soqui,  King  Etow  Oh  Koam  of  Great  Unami,  and  Emperor 
Johannes  of  Great  Minsi  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy ;  King 
Brandt  of  Great  Maquaas,  and  Emperor  Hendrick  of  Great 
Enanthayonni  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy,  and  set  sail  for 


94 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


London.  The  party,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Francis  Nichol- 
son, Col.  Pieter  Schuyler,  and  the  Indian  interpreter,  Capt. 
Abraham  Schuyler,  arrived  in  England  during  January,  1710. 
One  of  the  sachems  died,  evidently  the  aged  Soquon  of  the 

Hoosac  Valley,  then  about 
1 10  years  old,  and  was  bur- 
ied at  sea.  Sir  Charles 
Cotterel  conducted  the  four 
other  sachems  to  Mr. 
Arne's  furnished  apart- 
ment in  King  Street,  Cov- 
ent  Garden.  They  were 
royally  entertained  on 
April  19th  by  "  Mother 
Anne,"  as  they  called  the 
Queen.  The  sachems'  por- 
traits were  painted  by  the 
artist,  I.  Verelst,  with  the 
totemic  crests  of  the  Turtle, 
Bear,  and  Wolf,  together 
with  the  hominy-pestle  of 
the  Delaware  "squaw 
sachem,"  bow  and  arrow 
of  the  Mahican  Wolves, 
and  the  flint-lock  and  belts 
of  wampum  of  Mohawk 
King  Brandt  and  Emperor  Hendrick,  embroidered  with 
the  Swastika,  denoting  the  peacemaker  of  the  Iroquois. 

The  royal  Indians  caused  much  interest  in  London.  They 
sailed  in  the  Queen's  barge,  visited  Greenwich  Hospital, 
Chapel  of  Whitehall,  the  Ships  of  War;  and  the  Duke  of 
Ormond  commanded  his  Grenadier  Guards  for  a  review  in 
Hyde  Park.  Later  the  sachems  visited  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  each  was  presented  with  an  English  Bible. 


The  Squaw  King,  Etawa  Caume 
(Etow  Oh  Koam). 
Race  of  Great  Unatni  (Turtle  Nation) 
Peace  Maker  of  the  River  Indians,  includ- 
ing the  Delawares  and  Mahicans  of  the 
Abenakis  Democracy. 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  95 


The  party  set  sail  on  the  ship  Dragon,  May  8th,  and  reached 
Boston  on  July  15,  1710. 

Emperor  Hendrick,  then  a  gallant  of  thirty-five  years, 
was  impressed  with  the  poverty  of  thousands  of  the  Palatines, 
then  in  a  transitory  state, 
huddled  along  the  Surrey 
side  of  the  river  Thames. 
As  a  result  he  presented 
"Mother  Anne"  with  his 
valuable  Schoharie  or  Bear 
Tract  for  the  flaxen-haired 
people  to  settle  upon;  and 
three  thousand  Palatines 
later  set  sail,  accompanied 
by  Governor  Hunter  for 
their  "Promised  Land  of 
Schoharie. ' '  The  ' '  Gentle- 
men of  Albany,"  however, 
drove  most  of  them  down 
the  Hudson  to  William 
Penn's  Pennsylvania  Col- 
ony. A  few  remained  on 
German  Flats  about  Fort 
Herkimer  and  Fort  Day- 
ton, and  near  the  junctions 
of  East  and  West  Canada 

Creek  with  the  Mohawk.  Those  streams  encircle  the  hills 
of  the  Royal  Grant  presented  by  Emperor  Hendrick  later 
to  young  William  Johnson. 

The  first  Dutch  Church  of  Old  Schaghticoke  was  organized 
in  1 714  under  the  auspices  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam. 
The  log  meeting-house  was  built  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Reynolds  Road  outside  Fort  Schaghticoke,  near  the  Louis 
Viele  homestead.     Service  was  held  by  the  Fort  Albany 


The    Hero,    Maquon-Pauw,    Emperor 
Johannes  {Ho  Nee  Yeath  Taw  No 

Row). 
Race  of  Great  Minsi  {Wolf  Nation). 

Hero  of  the  Delawares  and  Mahicans  of 

the  Abenakis  Democracy. 


96 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


chaplains.  After  the  founding  of  the  Protestant  Church, 
the  venerable  Schaghticoke  sachem  addressed  Governor 
Hunter  saying: 

We  must  acquaint  our  Father  that  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 

some  time  Governor  of 
the  Province,  planted  a 
Tree  of  Welfare  at  Scack- 
kook  under  whose 
branches  we  sheltered 
and  lived  peaceably  a 
long  time  (i  676-1 709), 
and  the  owners  sold  part 
of  the  land  on  one  side 
of  Scackkook  Creek 
(Hoosac  River) ,  and  they 
were  to  live  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Creek,  but  the 
Christians  would  now 
have  it  on  both  sides  of 
the  Creek  and  Dispossess 
us  of  the  lands  we  former- 
ly planted. 


The  Flint-lock  King  Brandt  (Sa  Ga 

Yeath  Oua  Pieth  Tow). 
Race  of  Great  Maquaas  (Bear  Nation). 
King  of  the  Six  Nations  of  the  Iroquois 
Confederacy. 


The  first  whiteman  of  the 
Knickerbacker  Colony  to 
die  was  buried  in  the 
Schaghticokes,  Witenage- 
mot  burial-field  in  1715,  and  Herman  Jansen  Knicker- 
backer was  interred  there  in  1721.  All  the  tenantry  of 
the  "Vale  of  Peace"  owned  their  own  " God's  Acre" 
near  their  log  dwellings,  where  to-day  still  lies  the  historic 
dust  of  the  Dutch  founders  of  Hoosac  Valley,  now  over- 
grown with  briar-tangles  and  Netherland  roses. 

A  Census  of  the  Freeholders  of  Albany  County  was  taken 
in  1722  and  among  the  new  names  in  Old  Schaghticoke 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  97 


appear  those  of  Samuel  Doxie,  Simon  and  Martin  Daniels, 
Peter  Winne,  Abram  Fort,  and  John  J.  Bleecker.  Governor 
Burnett  the  same  season  addressed  the  Schaghticoke  scouts, 
telling  them  that,  ''the  money  they  squandered  for  rum, 
should  be  spent  for  food  and 
clothing."  The  sachem  re- 
plied :  ' '  Therefore  we  desire 
our  Father  to  order  the  tap 
or  crane  to  be  shut  and  to 
prohibit  the  selling  of  rum, 
for  as  long  as  the  Christians 
will  sell  rum,  our  people  will 
drink  it." 

Twenty-five  years  later, 
in  1749,  Peter  Kalm,  the 
Swedish  naturalist,  in  his 
Travels,  records  that  Albany 
was  the  largest  fur-market 
on  the  continent,  and  adds 
that :  "  The  Indians  do  not 
get  one-tenth  of  the  value 
of  their  goods.  .  .  .  The 
Merchants  of  Albany  glory 
in  tricks,  and  are  highly 
pleased  when  they  have 
given  the  poor  Indian  a  greater  portion  of  brandy  than  he 
can  bear,  and  they  can  after  that  get  all  his  goods  for  mere 
trifles." 

The  last  two  gray-haired  Schaghticoke  sachems  died  in 
1 726  and  the  younger  chieftains  began  to  desert  the  Hoosac 
Valley  of  Mingling  Waters.  Mawwehu,  the  Pequot  sachem  of 
Pumpkin-Hook  lodge  in  White  Creek,  together  with  the  grand- 
father of  Osceola — the  subsequent  leader  of  the  Seminoles' 
Revolution  in  Florida  in  1835 — wandered  South  on  a  hunting 


The  Hero,  Emperor  Hendrick  (Tee  Yee 

Neen  Ho  Ga  Row) . 

Race   of  Great  Enanthayonni  (Wolf 

Nation).      Peace    Maker    of    the    Six 

Nations   of  the   Iroquois    Confederacy. 


98  The  Hoosac  Valley 

expedition  in  1726.  Mawwehu  returned  and  settled  in  an 
uninhabited  Connecticut  vale,  encircled  by  wooded  hills, 
near  the  junction  of  St.  Agnes  Creek  with  Housatonac  River. 
This  vale  he  christened  Pishgacticoke  or  Skatecook,  signify- 
ing the  blending  of  two  streams,  and  in  1736  over  a  hundred 
of  his  Old  Schaghticoke  kindred  had  joined  his  New  Schagh- 
ticoke  lodge.  The  Moravian  missionary,  Christian  Henry 
Rauch,  first  discovered  Mawwehu's  lodge  in  1742  and  built 
a  forest  chapel ;  after  which  Dominie  Mack  christened  Maw- 
wehu, Gideon,  and  baptized  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  his 
people.  The  English  and  Dutch  fur-traders  about  1763 
routed  the  Moravians,  and  most  of  their  converted  Indians 
of  New  vSchaghticoke  and  Old  Stockbridge  migrated  to 
Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania. 

The  chieftain  Keeperdo,  known  as  Hoosac  or  Mahican 
Abraham,  and  Queen  Esther,  also,  of  Old  Schaghticoke,  with 
four  hundred  Hoosac,  Pennacook,  and  Abnaquis  warriors 
deserted  Hoosac  Valley  and  their  Council  Tree  of  Peace  be- 
tween 1726  and  1733.  Keeperdo  located  in  the  Wood  Creek 
hunting-grounds  about  Skene  Mountain,  now  Whitehall, 
and  in  1730  pushed  on  to  Ohio  Valley.  Keeperdo's  village 
in  Miami  Valley  became  the  birthplace  of  the  grandfather  of 
" Black  Hawk" — the  subsequent  leader  of  the  Indian  Revo- 
lution of  the  Northwest  against  the  invading  Christians  in 
1832.  Queen  Esther  and  her  Schaghticokes  located  near 
Old  Grey-Lock's  Fort  St.  Regis  lodge  at  S wanton  Falls  on 
river  Missisquoi  in  lower  Champlain  Valley,  Vt.,  and  her 
warriors  later  migrated  to  Mississippi  Valley. 

Governor  Crosby  held  a  conference  with  the  last  of  the 
Schaghticokes  in  September,  1733,  and  urged  them  topersuade 
their  kindred  under  Keeperdo  and  Queen  Esther  to  return  with 
their  warriors  and  shelter  beneath  the  branches  and  leaves  of 
the  "Tree  of  Peace."  He  promised  to  "take  care  that  it 
flourish  and   grow."     Queen   Esther's    St.  Regis  fugitives 


IS  .« 


-J*  'fii  ^h 

I  s  * 

V>  5  3 

Co  *>  nj 

•?  §  3 

f  2  * 

*si  JO  ►«» 


2  ►« 


►si  *o 

•8  3 


99 


ioo  The  Hoosac  Valley 

replied  by  letter:  "We  never  have  been  otherwise  than  good 
subjects  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  .  .  .  We  are  English- 
men in  our  hearts  and  if  any  evil  should  happen,  we  shall 
knock  at  the  door  and  acquaint  you.  .  .  .  We  are  but 
ignorant  people  and  poor  because  Rum  is  so  plenty,  which 
the  Traders  bring  to  us — we  can't  kill  a  deer  while  we  are 
obliged  to  sell  our  powder  and  lead."  The  warriors  never 
returned. 

General  Rigaud's  French  and  Indian  army  invaded  the 
Hoosac  Valley  during  King  George's  War  in  1746.  He  sent 
eighteen  fierce  Ontario  savages  down  the  valley  to  plunder 
and  massacre  about  Fort  Schaghticoke,  but  they  burned  only 
the  Dutch  meeting-house.  One  of  the  warriors  on  the  brow 
of  Pudding-hill,  however,  fired  a  fatal  ball,  which  killed 
Herman  Van  Vechten,  son  of  Maj.  Derrick  Van  Vechten, 
standing  in  the  dooryard  of  the  Van  Vechten  homestead, 
now  owned  by  a  descendant,  Jacob  Van  Vechten. 

The  Kittlehuyne  massacre  quickly  followed  the  death  of 
Herman  Van  Vechten.  Daniel  Kittlehuyne  and  his  three 
brothers  were  upon  friendly  terms  with  the  Schaghticokes ; 
little  Anna,  a  daughter  of  Daniel,  was  a  favorite  with  the 
squaws.  The  Ontario  warriors,  however,  were  enemies  of 
the  Schaghticokes  and  Mohawks  and  would  as  soon  scalp 
them  as  the  Christians.  Daniel  and  Peter  Kittlehuyne, 
while  hunting  deer  on  the  banks  of  the  Hoosac,  met  an 
ambuscade  of  Ontarios,  one  of  whom  fired  and  killed  Peter. 
Daniel  shot  one  savage  and  killed  another  with  the  butt  of 
his  gun.  He  fled  to  his  cottage  with  the  dead  body  of  his 
brother  thrown  over  his  pony's  back  and  set  out  at  once  for 
a  wagon  at  Fort  Schaghticoke  to  remove  his  family  to 
Albany.  He  had  no  more  than  arrived  at  the  Derrick  Van 
Vechten  house  when  an  avenging  party  of  Ontarios  sur- 
rounded his  cottage  with  hideous  war-whoops.  His  young- 
est brother  with  his  bride  from  Lake  St.  Sacrement,  little 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbocker  s  Colony  101 

Anna,  and  his  infant  son  were  scalped  and  left  in  the  burning 
cottage.  His  wife  and  brother  Henry  were  taken  captives 
and  marched  up  the  Owl  Kill  with  General  Rigaud's  one 
hundred  and  five  English  and  Dutch  prisoners  to  Montreal 
and  thence  to  Quebec  prison-pens.  The  Kittlehuynes  were 
ransomed  and  later  settled  on  their  farms  in  Old  Schaghti- 
coke. Mrs.  Jacob  Van  Vechten  is  a  descendant  of  Daniel 
Kittlehuyne. 

Gov.  George  Clinton  on  April  14,  1746,  requested  the 
Albany  Assembly  to  furnish  regular  militia  to  patrol  the 
trails  between  Fort  Albany  and  Fort  Clinton  (the  latter  was 
completed  in  March  at  Old  Saratoga)  and  up  the  Hoosac 
from  Fort  Half -Moon  at  Stillwater  to  Fort  Schaghticoke, 
Fort  St.  Croix,  and  Fort  Massachusetts.  Fort  Schaghti- 
coke was  rebuilt  from  its  foundation  during  the  spring  of 
1746  and  garrisoned  by  two  companies  of  regulars;  and 
three  companies  of  regulars  were  posted  also  at  Fort  Half- 
Moon,  although  it  was  not  until  November,  1746,  that 
Capt.  Henry  Livingston  mustered  four  companies  of  militia 
brave  enough  to  take  command  of  Fort  Clinton. 

The  Dutch  meeting-house  was  rebuilt  at  Old  Schaghticoke 
in  the  autumn  of  1746  and  Dominie  Theodorus  Frieling- 
huysen  of  Albany  Dutch  Church  preached  there  quarterly 
until  1759.  He  won  the  enmity  of  the  British  regulars 
posted  at  Fort  Albany  and  its  outposts  by  preaching  against 
an  amusing  theatrical  performance  entitled,  The  Recruiting 
Officer,  acted  upon  a  stage  fitted  up  in  a  barn.  The  actors 
were  all  young  colonels,  ensigns,  and  other  officers  who,  with 
painted  cheeks,  and  dressed  in  great  hoops,  linsey-woolsey 
petticoats,  and  tow  trousers  and  jackets,  represented  buxom 
Dutch  lasses,  while  others  of  their  number  represented  the 
lasses'  "  Bully  Boys  of  Helderberg,"  and  New  England 
Yankee  schoolmaster  varlets.  But  the  people  of  Albany 
considered  "painted  faces  the  very  ultimatum  of  degen- 


102  The  Hoosac  Valley 

eracy."1  Dominie  Frielinghuysen,  during  September, 
1759,  upon  finding  a  staff,  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  a  silver 
dollar  beside  his  parsonage  door,  resigned  and  set  sail  for 
Holland. 

Grandfather  Knickerbacker's  Bible,  bearing  the  date  of 
1682,  is  a  long  leather-bound  volume  with  brass  corners  and 
clasps.  It  contains  the  records  of  marriage,  birth,  and  dying 
days  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  Knickerbacker  family,  and  is 
reported  to  be  the  only  extant  copy  of  that  edition  of  New 
Netherland  Bibles  in  New  York  State.  It  was  used  on  the 
sacred  desk  of  the  Dutch  Church  in  Old  Schaghticoke 
between  17 14  and  1759.  The  Knickerbacker  Bible,  Soquon's 
deed  confirmed  by  Queen  Anne  in  1707,  together  with  a  por- 
trait of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  1st,  the  Schaghticokes' 
ceremonial  calumets,  implements  of  war  and  occupation  of 
soil  were  on  exhibition  at  the  Old  Mansion  until  the  death 
of  Joseph  Foster  Knickerbacker — the  "Poet  of  the  Vale." 
The  present  proprietor  of  Knickerbacker  Mansion  has  re- 
moved most  of  the  valued  relics  of  both  the  Schaghticoke 
and  Knickerbacker  races  of  lower  Hoosac  to  his  Bloodville 
Mansion  at  Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y.  The  Knickerbacker  Bible, 
for  want  of  a  lineal  heir,  will,  after  the  passing  of  the  present 
possessor,  be  deposited  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society 
Library. 

After  the  opening  raid  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  on 
May  28,  1754,  Lieut.-Gov.  James  De  Lancey  held  a  confer- 
ence of  peace  with  the  Mohawk  and  Schaghticoke  sachems 
between  June  14th  and  July  8th.  The  Schaghticokes  made 
promises  that  they  would  "do  as  their  fathers  had  done 
before  them."  Six  weeks  later  on  August  24,  1754,  five  St. 
Regis  warriors  posted  at  Fort  St.  Frederic,  true  to  their 
promise  to  Governor  Crosby  in  1733,  arrived  at  St.  Croix 
and  warned  the  dominie  of  the  Tioshoke  mission  chapel  that 

'Anna  McVicar  Grant,  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady,  1808. 


Fort  Schaghti coke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  103 

eight  hundred  French  and  St.  Francis  warriors  were  headed 
for  Dutch  and  English  Hoosac. 

At  that  time  the  last  of  the  Schaghticokes  consisted  of 
about  sixty  members,  including  warriors,  squaws,  and  chil- 


A  hand-shaved  clap-board  from  Col.  Johannes  Groesbeck  Mansion,  riddled 
with  bullet-holes  from  the  French  tongues  Carabines — long  rifles — fired  from  the 
north  bank  of  the  Hoosac  in  1756,  during  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

dren,  residing  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Hoosac.  They  be- 
gan a  pow-wow1  on  August  24,  1754,  so  protracted  and  singu- 
lar as  to  attract  the  notice  and  excite  the  wonder  of  Fort 
Schaghticoke  garrison  and  Knickerbacker's  Dutch  Colony. 
The  warriors  for  four  consecutive  days  engaged  in  songs  and 
the  Kinte-kaye  (Devil-dance  to  Great  Hobbamocko) ;  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  29th,  after  the  massacre  and  burning  of 
1  N.  Y.  Hist.  Mag.,  June,  1870. 


104 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Dutch  Hoosac  hamlets,  it  was  discovered  that  their  huts 
were  tenantless.  A  whiteman  residing  on  cne  borders  of 
Schaghticoke  village  reported  that  during  the  whole  night 


Boulder  marking  the  grave  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  1st,  in  the 
Schaghticoke s1  Witenagemot  Burial-field,  known  to-day  as  the  Knickerbacker 
Cemetery.  Colonel  Knickerbacker  died  in  174Q,  and  his  father,  Herman  Jansen 
Knickerbacker,  known  as  "  Grandfather  Knickerbocker,"  died  in  1721,  and  his 
grave  is  marked  by  a  rough  boulder,  a  few  feet  west  of  Colonel  Knickerbocker's 
grave.     It  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest  marked  grave  in  the  Hoosac  Valley. 

of  August  28th,  he  overheard  Indians  running  single  file  at 
top  speed  past  his  cabin  door. 

On  October  8,  1754,  Lieut. -Governor  De  Lancey  reported 
to  the  Lords  of  Trade  that  a  party  of  St.  Francis  warriors 
from  the  village  Becancour  on  the  river  St.  Francis,  Canada, 
had  made  a  fatal  incursion  at  Dutch  Hoosac.  Under  cover 
of  darkness,  during  a  pouring  thunder  storm,  a  hundred  war- 
riors visited  their  Schaghticoke  kindred,  who  joined  them  as 


Fort Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  105 

willing  attendants,  and  marched  to  St.  Regis  and  St.  Francis 
Indian  villages. 

Fort  Schaghticoke  and  several  of  the  neighboring  man- 
sions were  doubly  fortified  during  the  summer  of  1756. 
Wouter  Groesbeck' s  homestead  near  the  present  junction 
of  the  Tomhannac  Creek  with  the  Hoosac,  stood  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  north  bank  of  the  Hoosac  and  it  became 
a  target  for  bullets  from  the  Canadians  and  St.  Francis 
longues  Carabines.  The  house  was  repaired  by  Col.  Johannes 
Groesbeck  in  1846,  who  preserved  an  old  hand-shaved  clap- 
board, twelve  feet  long  by  fourteen  inches  wide,  pierced  by 
eighteen  bullet  holes.  He  emblazoned  on  one  side  of  the 
board  in  red  letters:  the  effects  of  the  French  war  the 
year  1756.  And  on  the  opposite  side :  90  years  old.  The 
Groesbeck  Mansion  was  torn  down  a  few  years  ago,  and 
the  board  is  now  stored  beneath  the  southern  eaves  in  the 
attic  of  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion. 

Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  1st,  died  in  1749,  at  th^  age 
of  seventy  years,  and  his  grave  is  marked  by  a  rough  blue 
boulder  in  the  Schaghticokes'  Witenagemot  burial-field. 
He  left  six  children:  three  sons — Herman,  Johannes,  2d,  and 
Wouter;  three  daughters — Elizabeth,  Cornelia,  and  Helena. 
Herman  and  Wouter  located  in  Albany,  and  Johannes,  2d, 
born  in  1723,  inherited  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion;  Eliza- 
beth married  Sybrant  Quackenbosch ;  Cornelia  married 
Teunis  Van  Vechten,  son  of  Garret  Tunisson-Van  Vechten, 
and  Helena  died  unmarried.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d, 
was  like  his  father  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Schaghticoke 
militia  connected  with  Fort  Schaghticoke,  and  led  in  various 
expeditions  against  the  hostile  Indians  during  the  French 
and  Indian  War.  He  was  attached  to  Lord  Howe's  staff 
during  the  Briton's  attack  upon  the  French  Fort  Carillon 
at  Ticonderoga  in  1758,  when  Lord  Howe  was  slain. 

After  the  departure  of  the  last  of  the  Schaghticokes  from 


106  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Hoosac  Valley  on  August  28, 1754,  Queen  Esther,  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  Soquon  or  Maquon,  made  annual  pilgrimages 
with  her  warriors  and  maidens  of  St.  Regis  to  the  "Vale  of 
Peace."  They  danced  beneath  their  Witenagemot  Oak  by 
the  light  of  the  moon  and  scattered  sacrificial  tokens  in  the 
Schaghticokes'  burial-field  west  of  the  Council  Tree,  and 
in  the  Hoosacs'  Tawasentha  (vale  of  the  many  dead)  in  the 
field  south  of  Hobbamocko's  Chimney.  The  latter  place 
was  known  to  the  children  of  a  century  ago.  The  late 
venerable  William  Banker  of  East  Schaghticoke,  as  a  lad, 
joined  by  the  village  schoolmaster  and  his  pupils,  construc- 
ted a  rope  ladder  about  70  feet  in  height  and  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  limestone-breccia  obelisk.  They  reported  that 
sulphurous  fumes  issued  from  the  aperture  of  the  chimney. 
It  is  evident  that  at  some  remote  period  the  " Fallen-hill" 
was  a  Mackimoodus  (place  of  noises) .  As  such  it  was  chosen 
as  the  sacrificial  shrine  for  pow-wows  to  the  God  of  Thunder. 

The  Devil's  Kitchen  is  located  in  a  deep  hollow  above  the 
Fallen-hill  north  of  the  obelisk,  and  a  typical  sand-dune  of 
the  interior  is  located  about  the  Drader-bach — the  Dutch 
designation  for  the  third  hill  east  of  the  "Vale  of  Peace." 
The  sand  is  slowly  moving  eastward  over  Schaghticoke 
Plains.  The  Evil  Spirit  of  nature  has  buried  a  grove  of 
trees,  and  the  vegetation  about  the  place  is  dwarfed,  peculiar 
to  sand-dunes.  The  Hoosacs  recognized  the  natural  phe- 
nomena of  the  Fiend  of  Calamity  about  the  region. 

The  last  burial  in  the  Hoosacs'  Tawasentha  is  believed 
to  have  taken  place  soon  after  Uncus,  the  last  royal  sachem 
of  Great  Unami,  was  slain  in  1757  by  Mague,  the  red  Huron 
chieftain,  near  Queen  Esther's  St.  Regis  lodge  on  the  lower 
Champlain.  Uncus  was  temporarily  buried  near  St.  Regis, 
according  to  Cooper's  Last  of  the  Mohicans,  and  later  borne 
to  the  Manitoulin  burial-field  of  his  fathers.  His  tumulus 
was  discernible  in  the  centre  of  the  Tawasentha  field  as  late 


Fort  Schaghticoke  and  Knickerbacker's  Colony  107 

as  1875  and  was  locally  known  as  the  "Indian-cellar."  The 
mound  was  ploughed  down  by  the  late  William  P.  Button, 
superintendent  of  Knickerbacker  Manor,  who  sowed  the 
field  to  wheat.  He  reported  unearthing  many  warriors' 
bones  and  "weapons  of  rest"  in  the  furrows. 

During  1900,  William  Dyer,  superintendent  of  Knicker- 
backer Manor,  enclosed  the  Schaghticokes'  burial-field,  now 
known  as  the  Knickerbacker  Cemetery,  with  a  wall  and 
iron  fence.  After  the  passing  of  the  present  proprietor, 
William  H.  Knickerbacker  of  Bloodville  Mansion  at  Ballston 
Spa,  N.  Y.,  the  key  of  the  Schaghticoke— Knickerbacker 
Cemetery  will  be  turned  over  to  the  Mayor  and  Council  of 
the  City  of  Albany,  who  will  guard  the  historic  mingled 
dust  of  the  Savage  and  Christian  for  generations  to 
come. 

Mawwehu's  New  Schaghticoke T  settlement  was  later  incor- 
porated by  the  English  of  Connecticut  as  the  town  of  Kent. 
At  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  mixed  Pequots 
had  dwindled  down  to  thirty-five  members,  who  cultivated 
only  six  acres  of  their  Schaghticoke  Mountain  Reservation, 
then  containing  fifteen  hundred  acres.  During  1906,  the 
last  fifteen  Pequot-Negro  half-breeds  resided  in  six  little 
one-story  brown  cabins  and  two  stores.  To-day  the  Schagh- 
ticoke Mountain  Reservation  of  three  hundred  acres  and  its 
buildings  is  valued  at  $3500.  The  whole  fund  of  the  Pe- 
quot  Colony  is  estimated  at  about  $5500  and  is  controlled 
by  a  superintendent,  who  looks  after  the  welfare  of  the  tribe. 
The  venerable  Queen  Vinie  had  a  white  mother.  She  is  a 
great  grand-daughter  of  the  sachem  Mawwehu  and  resides 
with  her  half-sister  Rachel,  a  full-blooded  Pequot,  in  a  cottage 
near  that  of  Hen  Pan,  who  is  proud  that  in  his  veins  flows 
the  unmixed  blood  of  Great  Unami.  He  has  emblazoned  m 
large  red  letters  on  his  chimney:  "iamo.k."  in  spite  of  the 

1  C.  Burr  Todd,  In  Olde  Connecticut,  pp.  208-216 


io8  The  Hoosac  Vallev 

fact  that  his  brother  Jim  Pan,  and  his  white  wife,  and  two 
children  share  his  cottage. 

Mawwehu's  burial-field  at  New  Schaghticoke  is  located 
under  a  bold  cliff  of  Schaghticoke  Mountain,  over  which  the 
Falls  of  St.  Agnes  tumble  through  many  a  pot-hole  to  the 
Housatonac  River.  The  Christians  have  long  since  forced 
the  sons  of  Great  Unami  of  mohegoneck  from  the  ebbing 
rivers  of  their  fathers.  To-day  the  vanishing  warriors 
murmur: 

And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 
Toward  the  setting  day, — 
Till  they  shall  fill  the  land,  and  we 
Are  driven  into  the  western  sea.1 

1  Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 


CHAPTER  V 

FORT   ST.   CROIX  AND  THE   PATROONS   OF   FRENCH   AND 

DUTCH   HOOSAC 

1624-1759 

All  beside  thy  limpid  waters, 

All  beside  thy  sands  so  bright; 
Indian  Chiefs  and  Christian  warriors 

Joined  in  fierce  and  mortal  fight. 

Spanish  Ballad  in  Percy. 

Dutch  Boers  and  French  Walloons,  1615-1624 — Fort  Crailo  and  Rensselaer- 
wyck,  1624-1663 — Fort  St.  Croix  and  Van  Ness  Colony,  1724 — Tioshoke 
—  Nepimore  —  Falls  Quequick — Dutch  Hooesac  and  Kreigger  Rock 
Hamlets — Tioshoke  Moravian  Mission — Dutch  Hooesac  and  German 
Lutheran  Church — English  Survey  of  Upper  Hoosac  Towns,  1 739-1 749 — 
Walloomsac  Patent,  1739 — King  George's  or  Shirley's  War,  1 744-1748 — 
General  Rigaud's  Invasion  of  Hoosac  Valley,  1746 — French  and  Indian 
War,  1754 — Fall  of  Quebec  and  Burning  of  St.  Francis  Village  of  Becan- 
cour,  1759. 

RENSSELAERWYCK,  St.  Croix,  and  Hoosac  manors 
lie  west  of  the  Taconacs  in  New  York.  The  distant 
blue  shoulders  of  Mount  Greylock's  brotherhood  loom  up 
against  the  southeastern  sky,  through  the  Hoosac  Pass  in 
Massachusetts;  and  southward,  up  the  narrow  defile  of  the 
Little  Hoosac,  gleam  the  "Sugar-loaf  mountains"  and 
" Johnny-cake  hills"  of  ancient  Rensselaerwyck,  N.  Y. 
Eastward,  through  the  Walloomsac  Pass,  tower  the  spruce 
domes  of  the  Green  Mountains  in  Vermont.  And  from  the 
west  meanders  the  Nepimore  Creek  from  Rensselaer  Hills 
through  the  pine  woods  of  "Shingle  Hollow";  while  the 
devious  Owl  Kill  from  the  north,  after  following  the  famous 
war-trail  of  the  picturesque  Cambridge  Valley,  joins  the 

109 


no  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Hoosac  near  Eagle  Bridge — twelve  miles  below  the  blending 
of  the  Hoosacs. 

Several  French  Walloon  families  joined  the  Dutch  Boers 
in  1624,  settling  on  the  site  of  Fort  Crailo  in  Greenbush  and 
Fort  Half-Moon  below  Cohoes  Falls.  Fort  Crailo  neigh- 
borhood in  1630  included  the  Van  Bris,  Van  Cuyler,  Van 
Denburgh,  Van  Hegan,  Van  Der  Heyden,  Van  Ness,  Van 
Staats,  Van  Schaick,  Vrooman,  De  Peyster,  and  the  Maessen 
or  Van  Buren  families.  The  latter  ran  a  tavern  and  his 
grandson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  became  President  of  the 
United  States  in  1837. 

Fort  Crailo  was  built  sometime  between  1630  and  1642. 
Sheriff  Albertzen  Plank  of  Fort  Orange  in  1637,  and  Arendt 
Van  Corlaer, J  a  cousin  of  patroon  Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer, 
negotiated,  with  the  Mahicansac  sachems,  for  the  Taconac 
Lake  District,  twenty-four  miles  square,  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Hudson;  and  during  1642  Hendrick  Albertzen  ran  a 
ferry  boat  between  Fort  Orange  and  Fort  Crailo  neighbor- 
hoods. 

The  Patroon  of  Rensselaerwyck  built  cottages,  barns, 
mills,  tanneries,  and  breweries,  and  partly  stocked  his  tenants' 
farms.  He  required  half  of  all  increased  stock,  fowl,  butter, 
cheese,  and  also  a  certain  number  of  days  of  labor  to  be 
applied  in  cutting  wood,  logs,  and  building  roads,  for  the 
first  ten  years,  until  the  forests  were  cleared.  After  that 
he  demanded  an  annual  quit-rent  of  two  bushels  of  winter 
wheat  or  corn,  for  every  one  hundred  acres  cultivated, 
averaging  $120  to  $200  for  each  farm.  The  yield  of  wheat 
per  bushel  was  twelve  to  twenty  bushels,  according  to  the 
soil.  Rents  could  be  paid  in  beaver-skins  or  wampum  at  the 
market  price,  beaver-skins  during  King  William's  War  being 
valued  at  about  $1.60  in  coin  or  York  currency.  The 
landlord's  office  was  built  in  1666,  near  the  corner  of  Tivoli 

1  Corlaer,  also  spelled  Curler. 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac    in 

street  on  the  Albany  and  Troy  road.  It  is  considered  the 
oldest  building  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  Albany  to- 
day. 

During  June,  1642,  Arendt  Van  Corlaer,  Commissary- 
General  of  Fort  Orange,  then  about  twenty- two  years  of 
age,  turned  his  thoughts  to  marriage.  He  visited  his  elder 
brother,  Capt.  Jacobus  Van  Corlaer,  of  Fort  Good  Hope  on 
the  Connecticut.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  scholarly 
Swede,  Jonas  Bronck  of  Bronx  Valley,  was  killed  by  the 
Wickquaskeek  Indians.  A  letter  of  Arendt  Van  Corlaer, 
dated  June  16,  1643,  to  his  cousin,  Patroon  Kiliaen  Van 
Rensselaer,  says:  "  I  am  at  present  betrothed  to  the  widow  of 
the  late  Jonas  Bronck.  May  the  Good  God  vouchsafe  and 
bless  me  in  my  undertaking."  The  following  season  Arendt 
Van  Corlaer,  2d,  was  born  at  Fort  Orange,  and  Captain  Van 
Corlaer  and  his  son  were  destined  to  found  Fort  Schonowe 
Colony  on  the  site  of  Schenectady  in  1661. 

The  Indian  massacre  of  Esopus,  now  Kingston,  took 
place  in  June,  1663,  and  the  tenantry  of  the  west  bank  of  the 
Hudson  sought  refuge  at  Fort  Crailo  on  Patroon  Van  Rens- 
selaer's farm  at  Greenbush.  The  night  watch  included: 
Capt.  Cornelius  Van  Ness  and  his  three  sons,  Hendrick, 
Garret,  and  Jan  Van  Ness;  Corp.  William  Bout,  Cornelius 
Stephenson,  Pieter  Mullen  (Mellen),  Adams  Dingermans, 
Jan  Juriaensen,  Jacobus  Jansen,  Tyman  Hendricksen,  Jan 
Oothout,  Hendrick  Maessen  (Van  Buren),  Garret  Tunisson 
(Van  Vechten),  Hans  Jacobsen,  Hendrick  Williamson,  and 
Claes  Claessen.  Hendrick  Van  Ness  and  Garret  Tuniszon 
(Van  Vechten)  twenty-five  years  later  became  two  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  Hoosac  Patent  in  central  Hoosac. 

In  February,  1666,  during  the  Mohawk  and  Hoosac  War, 
Gov.  Samuel  Courcelle  of  New  France  lead  a  party  of  six  hun- 
dred French  and  Algonquin  warriors  to  harass  the  Mohawks 
about  Fort  Schonowe.     Several  of  the  Canadians  were  cap- 


ii2  The  Hoosac  Valley 

tured  by  the  Mohawks,  and  Capt.  Arendt  Van  Corlaer  ran- 
somed and  returned  them  to  the  defeated  Courcelle.  The 
grateful  Governor  invited  Van  Corlaer  to  visit  Canada,  and 
while  on  his  journey,  he  was  accidentally  drowned,  in  1667, 
near  Fort  Cassin,  north  of  the  junction  of  Otter  Creek 
with  Lake  Champlain.  The  Peton-boque  waters  were 
known  for  a  century  thereafter  as  Lake  Corlaer,  in  memory 
of  "Brother  Corlaer,"  the  Indians'  Friend. 

At  the  time  Gov.  Thomas  Dongan  granted  Hoosac  Patent1 
on  June  2,  1688,  to  Maria  Van  Rensselaer  and  Hendrick  Van 
Ness  of  Albany,  Garret  Tunisson  (Van  Vechten)  of  Catskill, 
and  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  of  New  York  City,  Arendt  Van 
Corlaer,  2d,  was  a  man  forty -five  years  of  age.  His  son, 
Arendt  Van  Corlaer,  3d,  was  born  in  1690,  during  the  peri- 
lous year  following  the  Massacre  of  Schenectady  and  the 
opening  of  King  William's  War.  He  inherited  a  portion  of 
the  Great  Lot  10  of  Hoosac  Patent;  and  in  1709  at  the  age 
of  nineteen  years  settled  at  St.  Croix,  in  company  with  the 
fur-trader  Adam  Vrooman,  son  of  Bartle  Vrooman  of  Old 
Saratoga. 

Meanwhile  Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness,  eldest  son  of 
Hendrick  Van  Ness,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Hoosac  Patent, 
was  born  December  2,  1702.  He  inherited  St.  Croix  manor, 
two  miles  square,  on  the  northeast  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  lying 
between  the  junctions  of  the  Owl  Kill  and  the  Walloomsac. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  in  1724,  he  married  Sarah  Van 
Valkenburgh  of  Albany.  He  erected  a  saw-mill  and  grist- 
mill on  the  present  site  of  St.  Croix  Mills, 2  near  the  junction 
of  Little  White  Creek  with  the  Walloomsac,  a  mile  east  of  the 
site  of  Hoosac  Junction,  and  built  his  manorial  mansion  on 
the  terrace  twenty  rods  above  the  Walloomsac  ford. 3  About 
the  same  time  the  Dutch  stockade,  on  the  site  of  the  Jesuits' 

1  See  illustration,  Chapter  III.  a  See  illustration,  Chapter  XVII. 

3  See  illustration,  Preface. 


H3 


ii4  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Fort  St.  Croix,  was  built  on  the  high  bluff  a  few  rods  east  of 
Van  Ness  Mansion. 

The  Dutch  Fort  St.  Croix,  erected  in  1724, was  undoubtedly 
similar  to  all  New  York  border  stockades  and  contained 
mounted  cannon  similar  to  those  of  Fort  Orange  and  Fort 
Crailo,  so  adjusted  as  to  hurl  small  boulders  whenever  can- 
non balls  were  scarce.  A  dozen  rusty  balls,  however,  have 
been  unearthed  on  St.  Croix  terrace  by  the  present  pro- 
prietor of  Van  Ness  homestead,  Nicholas  Hathaway,  during 
the  last  ten  years.  The  field  is  strewn  with  thousands  of 
small  boulders,  many  of  which  were  undoubtedly  hurled 
against  the  enemy  between  1540  and  1777. 

The  scalping  forays  of  the  French,  headed  by  Kryn's  and 
Grey-Lock's  "Praying  warriors"  of  St.  Francois  and  St. 
Regis,  during  the  Jesuits'  War  between  1689  and  Father 
Rale's  death  in  1724,  led  through  the  Hoosac  Pass  to 
Deerfield  and  Northfield  villages  of  the  English;  as  did 
the  subsequent  invasions  of  the  French  and  St.  Francis 
warriors  during  King  George's  War,  and  the  later  French 
and  Indian  War.  A  French  writer  recorded  that  within 
a  certain  definite  period  of  short  duration,  twenty-seven 
detachments  of  St.  Francis  warriors  headed  by  Jesuit  chap- 
lains, made  incursions  into  the  country  settled  by  the 
Dutch  and  English  Protestants. 

St.  Croix,  Dutch  Hooesac,  and  Kreigger  neighborhoods, 
located  in  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconacs  between  the 
junctions  of  the  Owl  Kill  and  Cohoha  or  Wash-Tub  Brook 
with  the  Hoosac  at  Kreigger  Rocks,  suffered  more  from  those 
avenging  forays  of  King  Philip's  fugitive  warriors  than  did 
Knickerbacker's  Dutch  colony  on  the  lower  Hoosac,  or 
Williams's  English  proprieties  on  the  upper  Hoosac. 

The  Hoosac  Patent,  granted  in  1688,  covered  all  the  fertile 
meadow-land  two  miles  in  width  on  both  banks  of  the 
Hoosac,  between  the  Fallen-hill  in  Old  Schaghticoke,  and 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac     1 15 

the  north  line  of  Rensselaerwyck,  near  the  junction  of  the 
Little  Hoosac  with  the  Big  Hoosac. 

The  founders  of  the  Fort  St.  Croix  in  1724  included: 
Patroon  Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness,  Arendt  Van  Corlaer, 
3d,  Adam  Vrooman,  Pitt  Van  Hogleboom,  George  Nicolls,  a 
descendant  of  Col.  Richard  Nicolls  of  the  British  war- 
fleet  of  1664;  Johannes  De  Ruyter,  a  descendant  of  General 
De  Ruyter  of  the  Battle  of  Solebay;  Juria  Kreigger,  a  de- 
scendant of  Coh  William  Kreigger  of  Governor  Stuyvesant's 
Fort  Amsterdam  militia  in  1664;  Jan  Oothout,  a  grandson 
of  Hans  Reinier  Oothout  of  Capt.  Jacobus  Van  Corlaer's 
Fort  Good  Hope  garrison  on  the  Connecticut ;  Jacob  Onder- 
kirk,  a  grandson  of  Oldert  Onderkirk  of  Fort  Half-Moon; 
Daniel  and  Albertus  Brodt  (Bratt),  Rykert  Borie  (Bovie), 
Jacob  and  Abram  Fort,  Johannes  Van  Denburgh,  Johannes 
De  Fonda,  Jan  Huyck,  David  and  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer, 
Robert  Leake  (Lake),  William  Nicholas,  Andrew  Norwood, 
George  Searles,  Pieter  Sur  Dam,  and  many  another  "Rip 
Van  Winkle"  of  the  "Bully  Boys"  of  Helderberg,  whose 
gravestones  have  long  since  crumbled  to  dust  and  whose 
names  have  been  forgotten.  The  only  records  of  the  St. 
Croix  forefathers  are  found  to-day  on  the  Manitou  aseniah, 
(Spirit-stones)  marking  the  site  of  the  Tioshoke  Church- 
yard, northwest  of  Fort  St.  Croix  terrace. 

According  to  tradition,  there  was  a  quaint  Dutch  village 
about  the  site  of  the  Tioshoke  Church  between  1724  and 
1 746.  The  leases  of  Patroon  Van  Ness  to  his  tenants  reveal 
that  the  crossroads  of  his  manor  connected  with  the  "Great 
Road,"  now  known  as  Cambridge  Turnpike,  leading  between 
the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill  to  the  St.  Croix  Mills,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Little  White  Creek  with  the  Walloomsac. 

On  either  side  the  river  lie 
Long  fields  of  barley  and  of  rye. 


Ii6 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


The  first  Tioshoke  Church  was  undoubtedly  founded  by 
Count  Zinzendorf's  Moravian  missionaries  from  Germany 
and  Bohemia,  between  1741  and  1754.     After  the  close  of 


The  St.  Croix  Burial-field  located  about  the  site  of  the  Tioshoke  Mission 
Chapel  of  Colonial  days.  The  tombstones  in  the  foreground  mark  the  grave 
of  Arendt  Van  Corlaer,  3d,  who  died  in  i? gy  at  the  age  of  107  years. 

The  Hoosacs  recognized  the  rude  slabs  of  marble  as  Manitou-aseniah, 
Spirit-stones,  and  carved  their  Wakon-bird  stones  from  quartzite  or  marble,  which 
their  priests  used  in  their  own  burial  ceremony. 

Heroes  "  survive  storms  and  the  spears  of  their  foes,  and  per  forme  a  few 
heroic  deeds,  and  then: 

'  Mounds  will  answer  questions  of  them, 
For  many  future  years.1  " 

Thoreau,  The  Heroes'  Cairn. 

the  French  and  Indian  War  the  dominie's  parsonage  and  Dr. 
Hugh  Richey's  dwelling  stood  near  the  site  of  the  Tioshoke 
Church-yard,  now  containing  the  tombstone  marking  the 
grave  of  Arendt  Van  Corlaer,  3d,1  who  died  in  1797,  at  the 

1  The  name  Corlaer  is  spelled  Curler  on  his  gravestone.     He  was  of  French 
Walloon  origin. 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac    117 

age  of  107.  In  the  hamlet  was  Patroon  Van  Ness's  Mansion ; 
and  about  the  site  of  his  St.  Croix  Mills  stood  a  number  of 
dwellings  for  tenants  and  slaves,  a  schoolhouse,  ashery, 
store,  blacksmithy,  wagonshop,  and  tannery,  before  General 
Rigaud's  invasion,  during  King  George's  War  in  1746. 

Simultaneous  with  the  founding  of  Fort  St.  Croix  Colony 
in  1724,  tenantry  from  Fort  Half-Moon  and  Fort  Schaghti- 
coke  colonies  pushed  up  the  three  branches  of  the  Wanepi- 
moseck  Creek,  leading  toward  Rensselaer's  Plateau  from 
Hart's  Falls,  Valley  Falls,  and  Eagle  Bridge.  Philip  Van 
Ness,  a  cousin  of  Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness,  founded  the 
Tioshoke  Colony  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  below  the 
junction  of  the  Owl  Kill,  about  1724,  and  later  built  a  saw- 
mill and  grist-mill.  He  was  joined  by  Wouter  Van  Vechten, 
Lewis  Van  Woerdt,  Johannes  Quakenbosch,  Nicholas  Groes- 
beck,  and  Pieter  and  Ludovicus  Viele,  sons  of  Yocob  Viele 
of  the  Knickerbacker  Colony.  Johannes  Van  Buskirk, 
Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Augustus  Van  Home  later 
located  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  opposite  Philip 
Van  Ness's  Tioshoke  hamlet,  and  founded  Buskirk  Bridge 
hamlet.  Van  Cortlandt  and  Van  Home,  as  heirs  of  patroon 
Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  of  New  York  City,  inherited  the  Great 
Lots  of  Hoosac  Patent,  including  the  Falls  Quequick  forests. 

About  two  years  after  Fort  St.  Croix  was  built,  the  fur- 
trader,  Jan  Oothout,  cleared  a  lot  on  the  east  bank  of  Falls 
Quequick  and  built  the  first  log  house  within  the  present 
limits  of  Hoosac  Falls;  the  site  was  subsequently  occupied 
by  the  Henry  Barnhart  and  Samuel  Bo  wen  saw-mill,  in 
1754.  Pitt  Van  Hogleboom,  son  of  the  fur-trader,  Bart  Van 
Hogleboom,  from  the  junction  of  Bart's  Kill — Batten  Kill, — 
also  cleared  a  lot  two  miles  above  Falls  Quequick  and  built 
a  log  house,  which  was  subsequently  owned  by  Nicholas 
Brown.  Jacob  Onderkirk,  son  of  Cornelius  Onderkirk  of 
Fort  Half-Moon,  cleared  a  large  farm  a  few  years  later  on  the 


ii 8  The  Hoosac  Valley 

west  bank  of  Hoosac,  two  miles  above  Falls  Quequick;  and 
other  homesteaders  forced  their  way  up  the  Nepimore,  or 
Nipmuth  Creek,  to  ''Shingle  Hollow,"  where  they  made  pine 
shingles,  tar,  and  turpentine. 

Eight  or  ten  greedy  burghers,  also,  of  Rensselaerwyck, 
headed  by  Juria  Kreigger,  pushed  up  the  Hoosac  Pass  about 
1724  and  "squatted"  on  the  Cohoha  cornfields,  near  the 
junction  of  Wash-Tub  Brook  with  the  Hoosac,  about  Kreig- 
ger's  Rocks  and  at  Weeping  Rocks,  nearly  four  miles  east 
of  Twenty-Mile  Line  of  New  York,  on  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants.  No  contemporary  records  exist  of  those  settlements, 
although  after  Pownal  was  chartered  to  the  English  in  1760, 
the  Dutch  land  claimants  of  several  farms  included  the 
names  of  Juria  Kreigger,  Petrus  Voseburgh  (Vose),  Bastian 
Van  Deel  (Diel),  Franz  Burns  and  his  brother,  Pitt  Hogle 
(Van  Hogleboom),  Henry  Young,  Schorel  Marters  Watson, 
Mr.  Devot,  Long  Andries,  John  Spencer;  and  later  the  Van 
Arnam,  Van  Norman,  Anderson,  Fischer,  and  Westing- 
house  families. 

A  partial  division  of  the  Great  Lots  of  the  eastern  end  of 
Hoosac  Patent  took  place,  May  15,  1732.  The  heirs  of 
Maria  Van  Rensselaer,  Hendrick  Van  Ness,  Garret  Tunis- 
son- Van  Vechten,  and  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  drew  their 
lots.  Catherine  Van  Vechten,  a  granddaughter  of  Garret 
Tunisson-Van  Vechten  and  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker, 
1st,  of  Old  Schaghticoke,  drew  several  shares.  In  1735, 
she  married  Barnardus  Bratt,  or  Brodt,  who  purchased  the 
rights  of  several  other  Van  Vechten  heirs;  his  great  wealth 
and  assumption  of  manorial  rights  distinguished  him  locally 
as  the  "Patroon  of  Hoosac."  He  built  his  manorial  man- 
sion, huge  Dutch-roofed  barns,  mills,  and  tannery  in  1736 
about  the  present  site  of  Petersburgh  Junction  Station. *  The 
corn-mill  stood  on  the  Patroon's  Brook,  which  flows  through  a 

1  Located  in  Hoosac,  N.  Y. 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac     119 

ravine  north  of  the  site  of  the  present  Gardner  Mansion  and 
which  joins  the  Hoosac  a  mile  below  Petersburgh  Junction. 
The  broken  mill-stone  still  lies  bleaching  on  the  bank  of 
the  brook.  After  the  advent  of  the  wealthy  "Patroon  of 
Hoosac,"  waving  fields  of  grain  and  barracks  of  straw 
loomed  up  on  either  bank  of  the  devious  Hoosac, 

That  clothe  the  wold  and  meet  the  sky; 
And  through  the  fields  the  road  runs  by. 

The  historic  hamlet  of  ''Dutch  Hooesac,"  burned  by  Gen- 
eral Rigaud  during  King  George's  War  in  August,  1746,  lay 
partly  on  Bratt's  Big  Hoosac  manor  and  partly  on  Van 
Rensselaer's  Little  Hoosac  manor.  The  Dutch  meeting- 
house, schoolhouse,  blacksmith-shop,  and  store,  stood  about 
the  junction  of  the  Hoosac  and  Little  Hoosac  roads  on  the 
site  of  Petersburgh  Four  Corners.  A  brisk  trade  in  hides, 
tallow,  furs,  beer,  rum,  flour,  provisions,  and  clothing  was 
carried  on  between  the  tenantry  of  the  Dutch  patroons  of 
Hoosac,  Rensselaer wyck,  St.  Croix,  and  Fort  Massachusetts. 

Among  the  first  homesteaders  of  Rensselaerwyck  and 
Hoosac  manors  may  be  named:  Johannes  De  Ruyter,  Hen- 
drick  Letcher,  Petrus  and  Hans  Bachus,  Johannes  George 
Brimmer,  and  Jacob  Best.  In  the  De  Fonda  neighbor- 
hood east  of  Bratt's  Mansion  at  the  base  of  De  Fonda  Hill 
resided  the  Van  Derricks,  Johannes  De  Fonda,  Knott, 
Robert  and  Jan  Huyck  families.  The  latter  descended  from 
Dominie  Jan  Huyck,  who  first  located  at  New  Amsterdam 
in  1626.  Descendants  of  Jan  Huyck  are  found  in  Herkimer, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  De  Fondas  founded  Fonda  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley. 

The  English  missionaries,  Jonathan  Sergeant,  Timothy 
Woodbridge,  and  Samuel  Hopkins  in  1732  located  at  Skate- 
cook,  near  the  junction  of  Green  River  with  the  Housatonac, 
on   the   site   of   Sheffield,    Mass.     Ephraim  Williams,  Sr., 


120  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Josiah  Jones,  Joseph  Woodbridge,  and  Ephraim  Brown 
located  about  King  Aepjen's  Monument  Mountain  village, 
and  incorporated  the  town,  Stockbridge,  in  1739.  Ephraim 
Williams,  Sr.,  was  also  commissioned  to  lay  out  one  or  more 
townships  on  the  upper  Hoosac  during  May,  1739,  when  he 
discovered  the  Dutch  burghers  of  Rensselaerwyck  located 
near  Rattlesnake  Brook  on  the  border  of  Williamstown, 
Mass.  The  Sheriff  of  Rensselaerwyck  and  the  Schaghticoke 
sachems  advanced  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and 
routed  the  English  surveyors. 

Lieut. -Gov.  George  Clarke  of  Albany  on  June  5,  1739, 
advertised  all  "the  vacant  land  east  of  Hoosac  Patent," 
for  settlement.  The  Walloomsac  Patent  covering  twelve 
thousand  acres  of  meadow-land  on  the  banks  of  the  Wal- 
loon Creek  was  granted  to  six  proprietors  including:  James 
De  Lancey,  Charles  Williams,  Edward  Collins,  Gerar- 
dus  Stuyvesant,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  and  Frederick 
Morris  of  Albany.  The  tract  began  two  miles  east  of  the 
Hoosac  River  and  extended  eastward  up  the  Walloomsac  to 
Haviland's  Brook,  known  to-day  as  Paran  Creek,  in  North 
Bennington,  Vt. 

Gov.  Jonathan  Belcher  of  Boston,  after  the  English  were 
routed  from  the  upper  Hoosac,  in  June,  1739,  addressed  several 
letters  to  Lieut. -Gov.  George  Clarke,  requesting  a  Mutual 
Board  of  Commissioners  to  decide  upon  the  Twenty -Mile 
Line  between  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  in  order  to 
better  secure  the  New  England  borders,  "whereupon  some 
few  people  have  already  got  and  inhabit."  The  letters  were 
ignored  and  Richard  Hazen  was  engaged  to  survey  and 
establish  the  present  northern  line  of  Massachusetts  in 
April,  1 741,  and  Fort  Massachusetts  was  built  during  the 
summer  of  1745. 

Commissary  Major  Israel  Williams  of  Massachusetts  bor- 
der forts  directed  Lieut.  John  Catlin,  2d,  to  negotiate  with  the 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac     121 

patroons  of  Dutch  Hoosac  for  supplies.  On  August  5,  1745, * 
both  Capt.  Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness  and  Barnardus  Bratt 
visited  Fort  Massachusetts,  and  Captain  Van  Ness  agreed 
to  supply  flour  delivered  at  the  Van  Derrick  Mansion  in 
Dutch  Hooesac  at  28  per  skipel,  in  exchange  for  New  England 
rum,  hides,  and  tallow  at  market  price  shipped  to  his  son, 
Cornelius  Van  Ness,  a  wholesale  merchant  in  New  York  City. 

Ambuscades  of  savages  began  to  lurk  throughout  Hoosac 
Valley  after  the  English  commenced  to  build  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. Nicholas  Bovie  of  Kreigger  neighborhood,  now 
North  Pownal,  Vt.,  was  scalped  and  left  for  dead,  although 
he  survived  many  years  and  was  known  as  "Scalped  Dick." 
His  uncle,  Petrus  Bovie,  while  a  garrison  soldier  at  Fort 
Massachusetts,  was  killed  during  October,  1747,  and  Pitt  Van 
Hogleboom  and  his  youngest  son  were  later  slain.  The 
latter,  according  to  his  mother,  was  buried  on  the  bank  of  the 
Hoosac  in  the  Cohoha  cornfield. 2  The  late  Alonzo  Whipple, 
one  of  the  Pownal  citizens,  located  his  disinterred  grave 
many  years  ago  after  a  freshet,  and  recovered  his  brass- 
bowled  pipe,  which  is  now  in  the  possession  of  V.  D.  S. 
Merrill  of  Bennington,  Vt. 

In  June,  1746,  while  Franz  Burns  and  his  brother  were 
hoeing  in  Cohoha  cornfield,  they  saw  their  barn  on  fire.  On 
nearing  their  cottage  door  they  beheld  a  stack  of  French 
rifles  and  in  their  fright  the  brothers  separated.  One 
ascended  the  trail  over  the  Kreigger  Rocks  and  hastened  up 
the  valley  to  Fort  Massachusetts,  and  the  other  turned  up  the 
river  and  met  an  ambuscade  of  warriors,  who  gave  chase  for 
his  scalp.  He  plunged  into  the  river  and  hid  beneath  piles 
of  driftwood  until  the  Indians  retreated  down  the  valley. 
The  next  morning  he  rose  from  his  hiding-place  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  English  fort,  where  to  his  surprise  he  found  his 
brother. 

1  Note  2,  at  end  of  volume.  2See  illustration,  Chapter  VI.,  p.  I37« 


122  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Two  months  later  General  Rigaud  invaded  Hoosac  Valley 
with  a  vast  army  of  French  and  St.  Francis  Indians.  They 
encamped  on  the  Burns  brothers,  Cohoha  cornfield,  west 
of  Kreigger  Rocks,  and  sent  scouts  to  observe  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. Captain  Van  Ness  and  Barnardus  Bratt  did  not 
warn  the  English  commander  of  an  advancing  enemy,  hoping 
thereby  to  escape  molestation,  as  during  former  invasions  of 
the  Canadas.  Rigaud's  returning  army  and  English  captives 
encamped  on  the  Van  Derrick  meadow,  near  Dutch  Hooesac. 
General  Rigaud  recorded  the  loss  of  Dutch  Hooesac  to  be 
£50,000  York  currency  and  an  equal  loss  at  St.  Croix. 

Young  Cornelius  Van  Ness  in  1750,  after  his  marriage 
with  Alida  Van  Woerdt,  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Lewis  Van 
Woerdt  of  Tioshoke,  returned  from  New  York  City  to  St. 
Croix  manor,  to  reside  there  with  his  father. 

The  French  and  Indian  War  was  first  announced  in  central 
Hoosac  on  May  28,  1754,  by  a  party  of  French  and  Indians, 
who  encamped  at  the  Barnhart  and  Bo  wen,  Falls  Quequick 
saw-mills.  The  Van  Ness,  Van  Corlaer,  Van  Woerdt,  Vroo- 
man,  Oothout,  Onderkirk,  Bratt,  Van  Derrick,  De  Ruy- 
ter,  Letcher,  Bachus,  De  Fonda,  Huyck,  Van  Deel  (Diel), 
Voseburgh  (Vose),  Van  Hogleboom,  and  Kreigger  families 
made  their  escape  to  Fort  Massachusetts  ahead  of  the  war- 
party.  The  enemy  later  burned  both  St.  Croix  and  Dutch 
Hooesac  and  marched  up  the  valley.  The  Dutch  burghers 
on  their  way  to  Fort  Massachusetts  sent  a  warning  to  the 
English  proprietors  at  West  Hoosac  hamlet,  now  Williams- 
town,  and  Capt.  Elisha  Chapin  assigned  them  the  West 
Hoosac  homesteaders'  barracks.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the 
English,  therefore,  they  found  their  quarters  crowded  with 
a  "Dutch  clutter,"  and  several  families  were  forced  to 
journey  on  to  their  Connecticut  homes.  This  led  to  a 
bitter  military  jealousy,  and  the  Connecticut  settlers 
built    a    fort  on   the    Square  in   West   Hoosac,  not   only 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac    123 

as  a  refuge  from  the  French  and  Indians  but  from  the 
Dutch. 

The  loss  of  the  patroons  on  May  28, 1754,  in  Dutch  Hooesac 
and  St.  Croix,  as  reported  by  Captain  Chapin,  consisted  of 
"Seven  dwellings,  fourteen  barns,  and  fourteen  barracks  of 
wheat  amounting  to  £4000  York  currency  in  each  hamlet." 

The  Brimmer  massacre  took  place  two  weeks  later,  on 
June  15th.  Johannes  George  Brimmer  and  his  three  sons 
were  laboring  in  their  cornfield  when  an  Indian  blanket  was 
discovered  by  the  elder  Brimmer.  He  signalled  to  his  sons 
to  follow  him  with  the  team  to  their  dwelling.  Jeremiah, 
the  eldest  son,  while  mounting  one  of  the  horses,  was  killed 
by  a  fatal  ball,  and  immediately  four  savages  rose  from  their 
ambush.  Godfrey  and  Jonathan  Brimmer  seized  their 
guns  and  ran  behind  a  brush-fence,  but  the  warriors  soon 
located  them.  Godfrey  fired  without  effect,  and  according 
to  custom  of  surrender,  dropped  the  butt  of  his  gun  and 
placed  his  left  hand  over  its  muzzle.  He  then  extended  his 
right  hand  to  his  captor,  who  seized  him  by  his  collar  band, 
passed  around  him  three  times,  and  laid  his  right  hand  upon 
his  head.  Another  savage  seized  Jonathan,  a  lad  of  sixteen 
years,  and  performed  a  similar  ceremony,  after  which  the 
party  turned  down  the  Hoosac.  Jonathan  picked  up  several 
small  boulders  as  he  crossed  the  Walloomsac  ford  and  threw 
them  at  his  captor,  which  caused  the  savage  to  laugh  in 
admiration  at  Jonathan's  defiance. 

The  Brimmer  boys  marched  up  the  Owl  Kill  to  St.  Johns 
lodge,  where  they  were  welcomed  by  three  hundred  Schagh- 
ticoke  and  St.  Francis  warriors.  The  lads  were  seated  in 
the  centre  of  the  circle  and  requested  to  sing  hymns.  After 
their  third  refusal  the  savages  prepared  to  torture  them  in 
order  to  make  them  sing,  but  an  old  Indian  hunter,  who  had 
visited  the  Brimmer  home,  arose  and  prevented  the  torture, 
and  six  weeks  later  they  were  sold  as  slaves  to  French  officers. 


124  The  Hoosac  Valley 

After  the  Fall  of  Quebec  in  1759,  the  Brimmer  boys  escaped 
and  were  again  captured  by  the  British  near  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga.  Patroon  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  obtained  their 
release  and  they  returned  to  their  parents  at  Rhinebeck- 
on-the-Hudson. 

A  party  of  thirty  soldiers  from  Fort  Albany  visited  "  Dutch 
Hooesac"  and  buried  the  body  of  Jeremiah  Brimmer  the 
latter  part  of  June,  beside  the  great  boulder  near  the  present 
residence  of  Henry  J.  Brimmer.  The  family  returned  to 
their  farm  in  Hoosac  Pass  about  1763  and  Jonathan  remained 
on  the  homestead,  and  Godfrey  located  on  upper  Little 
Hoosac.  The  late  Hezekiah  Coon  and  Daniel  Brimmer 
remembered  the  adventurous  tales  related  to  them  by  the 
venerable  Jonathan  and  Godfrey  Brimmer. 

Lieut. -Gov.  James  De  Lancey  held  a  conference  with  the 
Schaghticoke  and  Mohawk  sachems  between  June  14th 
and  July  8th,  in  1754,  and  advised  the  Albany  Assembly 
that  it  was  time  that  the  colonists  should  exert  themselves 
to  stop  the  passage  of  the  French,  no  less  barbarous  than 
the  Indians,  prowling  through  the  unguarded  passes  of  the 
Hoosac  Valley,  to  scalp  and  lead  British  subjects  to  captivity 
in  New  France. 

Eight  weeks  after  the  Brimmer  massacre,  St.  Croix  and 
Dutch  Hooesac  were  totally  burned.  Two  official  letters 
of  Capt.  Elisha  Chapin  addressed  to  Col.  Israel  Williams, 
dated  at  Fort  Massachusetts,  picture  the  deserted  hamlets 
of  central  Hoosac  between  August  3d  and  28th,  1754. 

Fort  Massachusetts, 

August  3,  1754. 
Sir: 

Last  Sunday  morning  I  sent  a  scout  to  Sencoick  (St. 
Croix)  and  they  returned  this  minit.  They  find  where  the 
Indians  marched  off  and  burned  all  afore  them.  They 
think  there  was  about  400  of  the  enemy.     They  see  a  man 


The  Patroons  of  French  and  Dutch  Hoosac     125 

come  out  of  Albany  yesterday.     The  Gent,  of  Albany  was 
very  desirous  that  he  should  come  to  the  fort  and  acquaint 
me  that  there  is  44  Indian  canoes  come  out  9  days  sense 
and  desine  for  our  scattering  frontieers  in  New  England. 
From  Sir 
Yrs 
to  Com 

Elisha  Chapin. 

Fort  Massachusetts, 

August  25,  1754. 
Sir: 

This  day  there  came  a  man  from  the  Dutch  and  informs 
me  that  4  days  past  there  came  5  Indians  from  Crownpint 
and  informs  them  that  there  is  eight  hundred  Indians  desine 
to  destroy  Hosuck  (Hooesac)  and  oare  new  town  (Williams- 
town)  and  this  fort,  and  desine  to  be  upon  us  this  night.  I 
sent  a  man  right  down  to  Hosuck  to  hear  farther  about  the 
iffair,  but  the  people  was  all  moved  off  but  2  or  3  that  was 
coming  to  the  fort  and  they  tell  him  the  same  account.  The 
Indians  that  brought  the  account  was  sent  in  order  to  have 
some  parsons  move  from  Sencoick  (St.  Croix)  that  they  had 
regard  for,  but  if  they  come  I  hope  we  are  well  fixt  for  them. 

In  hast  from 
Sr 

Your's  etc. 

Command.  Elisha  Chapin.  ■ 

During  the  campaigns  of  1755  and  1756  the  governors  of 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  York  fortified  the 
trails  leading  up  the  Little  Hoosac  and  Green  River  to  Housa- 
tonac  Valley.  Col.  Israel  Williams  of  Berkshire  militia 
submitted  plans2  for  the  Hoosac  Valley  defences  to  Governor 
Shirley  on  September  12, 1754.  He  proposed  that  "two  new 
forts"  should  be  built — one  on  the  Square  in  West  Hoosac, 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  250.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  286-291. 


126  The  Hoosac  Valley 

now  Williamstown,  to  be  garrisoned  by  Connecticut  militia; 
and  another  at  St.  Croix,  near  the  junction  of  the  Walloomsac, 
to  be  garrisoned  by  New  York  militia.  He  considered  that 
if  those  " large  openings"  were  closed  and  a  proper  garrison 
and  artillery  posted  at  Fort  Half-Moon,  Fort  Schaghticoke, 
and  Fort  Massachusetts,  the  frontier  English  settlements 
of  Deerfield  and  Stockbridge  would  be  protected.  Fort 
Hoosac  was  built  during  March,  1756,  and  Fort  St.  Croix 
about  the  same  time,  although  there  is  no  contemporary 
record  of  the  latter  fort's  construction.  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman's 
Journal  of  Operations  of  Fort  Massachusetts1  during  the  early 
summer  of  1756,  under  date  of  June  15th,  records  that: 
General  Winslow  sent  Major  Thaxter  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  from  Fort  Half -Moon  "acrost  to  our  Fort  at  the 
loar  Eand  of  Melomscot " 2  (Walloomsac),  proving  that  a  fort 
was  built  there  at  that  time. 

During  the  late  summer  of  1759,  Col.  Israel  Williams 
rallied  his  Massachusetts  regiment  and  reinforced  General 
Wolfe's  army  against  the  French  at  Quebec.  His  troopers, 
marching  down  the  Hoosac  Valley  trail,  kept  an  eye  on  the 
deserted  cornfields  of  Dutch  Hooesac  and  St.  Croix.  After 
the  Peace  of  Paris  was  signed  in  1763,  hundreds  of  Congre- 
gationalists,  Baptists,  Quakers,  Adventists,  Presbyterians, 
and  Methodists  located  on  patents  in  Schaghticoke,  Cam- 
bridge, Hoosac,  and  Rensselaer  military  districts,  where 
their  stone  walls  remain  and  the  old  grafted  stock  survives 
in  the  orchards  to-day. 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  278-280. 

2  Melomscot  refers  to  Mellen's  patent,  one  of  first  settlers  on  the  Walloomsac 
Tract.  It  was  mentioned  by  the  German  officer  Glick  in  1777.  Capt. 
Isaac  Wyman's  Journal,  kept  between  May  19  and  July  10,  1756,  came 
into  the  hands  of  Col.  Israel  Williams,  successor  of  Col.  John  Stoddard's 
Hampshire  (Berkshire)  County  militia,  in  1748.  It  descended  to  Capt. 
John  Williams,  a  son  of  Col.  Israel  Williams,  residing  in  Old  Deerfield. 
Gen.  E.  Hoyt,  author  of  Indian  Wars,  1824,  discovered  the  Journal,  August 
31,  1820. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FORT  MASSACHUSETTS  AND  ENGLISH  HOOSAC 

i 745-1 746 

In  a  pleasant  glade, 
With  mountains  round  about  environed, 
And  mighty  woods,  which  did  the  valley  shade. 
And  like  a  stately  theatre  it  made, 
Spreading  itself  into  a  spacious  plain; 
And  in  the  midst  a  little  river  played. 

Spenser. 

Fort  Massachusetts,  1 745-1 746 — Schaghticoke's  Challenge  of  Hoosac  Head- 
waters— Ephraim  Williams,  Jr. — King  George's  or  Shirley's  War,  1744- 
1748 — Rigaud  De  Vaudreuil's  Invasion,  1746 — Burning  of  Fort — March 
of  English  Captives  to  Quebec — Return  of  Redeemed  Captives,  1747 — 
Tombs  of  Chaplain  Norton  and  Sergeant  Hawks. 

IN  1745,  twenty-one  years  after  Fort  St.  Croix  was  built  in 
Dutch  Hoosac,  the  English  built  Fort  Massachusetts 
a  mile  west  of  the  junction  of  the  Mayoonsac  with  the  Asha- 
waghsac,  in  the  present  limits  of  the  First  Ward  of  the  City 
of  North  Adams.  Nature  set  her  seal  of  grandeur  upon  this 
veritable  Thermopylae,  and  it  became  a  counterpart  of  the 
glade  to  which  Belphcebe  bore  the  wounded  Timias. 

The  felling  of  the  first  pine  trees  for  the  construction  of 
Fort  Massachusetts  opened  a  clearing  sixty  rods  in  extent 
on  the  ox-bow  meadow  about  the  site  of  the  blockhouse. 
The  St.  Francis  Ledge  was  exposed  on  the  north;  Hoosac 
ford  on  the  east;  a  cornfield  on  the  south  extended  along 
the  river's  bank,  and  on  the  west  stretched  an  undisturbed 
spruce  and  hemlock  marsh-land  four  miles  to  the  pine  grove 
of  River  Bend  campground,  north  of  the  site  of  Moody 
Bridge  in  Williamstown. 

127 


128 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


The  blockhouse  on  the  upper  Hoosac  was  modelled  after 
Fort  Shirley,  and  Lieut.  John  Catlin,  2d,  accompanied  by 
several  Fort  Shirley  and  Fort  Pelham  soldiers,  came  over 
the  "Forbidden  Hoosac  Mountain"  during  the  early  summer 


The  Perry  Elm,  marking  the  site  of  Fort  Massachusetts,  built  during  summer 

of  1745  on  the  ox-bow  meadow  at  the  northern  base  of  Mount  Williams 

of  the  Greylock  Range,  North  Adams,  Massachusetts. 

of  1745,  and  built  the  fort.  The  Schaghticokes  and  their 
St.  Regis  and  St.  Francis  kindred  watched  every  movement 
and  forbade  the  carpenters  to  complete  the  blockhouse  until 
they  first  purchased  the  "Great  Meadow."  Lieutenant 
Catlin,  2d,  evidently  promised  to  negotiate  for  the  land, 
but  in  1 75 1  the  Schaghticoke  chieftains  complained  that: 
"The  English  were  not  as  good  as  their  word."1 

1  Note  10,  at  end  of  volume. 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac      129 

Fort  Massachusetts,  according  to  Col.  John  Stoddard's 
orders, z  was  built  sixty  feet  square.  The  walls  were  twelve 
feet  high,  by  fourteen  inches  thick,  constructed  of  pine  logs 
hewn  down  to  six  x  fourteen-inch  face,  placed  upon  a  stone 
foundation,  one  log  above  another.  The  timbers  of  the 
corners  and  side  walls  were  dove-tailed  and  spiked  together 
with  dowel-pins  of  red  oak.     The  fort  gate  faced  northward 


v- ;v,;, -,,,,.::' 


Fort  Massachusetts  Blockhouse,  showing  the  garrison's  barracks  and  the 

watch-towers  on  the  exposed  angles  of  the  Fort  for  the  discharge 

of  the  sharpshooters'  rifles. 

upon  St.  Francis  Ledge,  and  the  barracks  were  eleven  feet 
wide,  with  sloping  "salt-box"  roofs,  located  against  the  east 
and  south  walls.  The  mounts  consisted  of  platforms  twelve 
feet  square  on  the  northwest  and  southeast  angles  of  the 
blockhouse  walls,  upon  which  were  built  watch-towers  seven 
feet  in  height,  pierced  with  loop-holes  for  the  discharge  of 
rifles.  The  well  with  its  huge  sweep  stood  in  the  northeast 
angle  of  the  parade,  which  was  forty-nine  by  sixty  feet  in 
extent. 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  80. 


130  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Two  official  letters  of  Lieutenant  Catlin,1  dated  Fort 
Massachusetts  in  August,  1745,  and  addressed  to  the  com- 
missary, Maj.  Israel  Williams,  at  Hatfield,  prove  that  he 
had  been  advised  to  negotiate  with  the  patroons  of  Dutch 
Hooesac  and  St.  Croix  for  garrison  supplies.  At  that  time 
it  was  impossible  to  haul  flour  from  Capt.  Moses  Rice's 
Charlemont  Mills,  fourteen  miles  eastward,  except  on  horse- 
back over  the  Hoosac  Mountain  road.  Barnardus  Bratt  of 
Dutch  Hooesac,  fourteen  miles  below  Fort  Massachusetts, 
and  Capt.  Garret  Cornelius  Van  Ness  of  Fort  St.  Croix, 
ten  miles  farther  down  the  valley,  operated  the  finest  flouring 
mills  in  the  American  Colonies.  • 

In  June,  1746,  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  removed  his 
headquarters  from  Fort  Shirley  to  Fort  Massachusetts.  His 
first  muster-roll  between  December  10, 1745,  and  June  9, 1746, 2 
contains  forty-two  names,  not  including  the  Fort  Shirley 
reinforcements,  who  arrived  in  May,  1746.  The  Schaghti- 
cokes  and  St.  Francis  kindred  lurked  constantly  along  the 
river  bank  during  the  planting  season,  and  Sergt.  John 
Hawks  and  John  Mighills  on  May  9th,  while  riding  on  one 
horse  near  the  fort  gate,  were  attacked  by  two  savages. 
Sergeant  Hawks,  although  wounded,  recovered  his  gun  and 
aimed  it  at  the  warriors,  who  begged  for  quarter  and  ran 
for  the  woods. 

The  St.  Francis  chieftain,  Cadenaret,  with  a  party  of  his 
warriors  from  the  village  of  Becancour,  on  the  river  St. 
Francis,  lay  hidden  on  the  Hoosac's  bank,  awaiting  an  oppor- 
tunity to  attack  the  soldiers  hoeing  in  the  cornfield  June 
2d.  Elisha  Nims  from  Fort  Shirley  was  shot  and  scalped, 
and  Gershorm  Hawks  of  Charlemont,  a  nephew  of  Sergt. 
John  Hawks,  was  slightly  wounded.  The  other  soldiers  ran 
for  the  shelter  of  the  fort,  but  another  gang  of  savages  rose 
from  ambuscade  between  them  and  the  gate  and  attempted 

1  Note  2,  at  end  of  volume.  2Ibid.,  Note  3. 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac      131 

to  cut  off  their  retreat.  The  sharpshooters  posted  in  the 
southeast  watch-tower  repulsed  the  enemy,  although  Benja- 
min Taintor,  a  Fort  Shirley  recruit,  was  captured. 

The  savages  sullenly  retreated  down  the  Hoosac  Pass,  for 
they  had  left  their  beloved  chieftain,  Cadenaret,  slain  behind 
them.  The  English  discovered  his  hastily  made  tumulus 
later  on  the  river's  edge,  near  the  cornfield.  Buried  with 
him  was  the  long  rope  with  which  he  intended  to  lead  a  string 
of  English  captives  to  Quebec. 

During  April,  1746,  the  British  Ministry  rallied  8200  vol- 
unteer troops  from  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia,  in  order  to  besiege  the  French  and 
Indians  of  New  France.  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  was 
absent  from  Fort  Massachusetts  most  of  the  summer,  and 
left  the  fortification  under  the  command  of  Sergt.  John  Hawks. 

After  the  volunteer  troops  were  organized  against  Canada, 
it  was  discovered  that  Fort  Massachusetts'  garrison  was 
inadequate  to  make  a  proper  defence  of  the  Hoosac  Pass. 
It  was  doubly  afflicted  also  with  an  epidemic  of  bloody-flux 
and  it  was  necessary  to  send  for  Dr.  Thomas  Williams, 
the  Chaplain,  John  Norton,  and  fourteen  Fort  Shirley 
soldiers.  The  relief  party  arrived  at  Fort  Massachusetts 
Friday,  August  15th,  and  the  following  morning  Sergeant 
Hawks  despatched  Dr.  Williams  and  fourteen  soldiers  to 
Fort  Deerfield  with  a  letter  addressed  to  Capt.  Ephraim 
Williams,  Jr.,  asking  for  supplies  and  ammunition.  He 
reported  that  fresh  Indian  moccasin  tracks  had  been  observed 
by  the  patrolling  scout  a  few  miles  below  the  fort. 

Only  twenty  soldiers,  ten  of  whom  were  dangerously  ill, 
besides  Sergeant  Hawks  and  Chaplain  Norton,  were  left 
to  defend  Fort  Massachusetts  after  the  departure  of  Dr. 
Williams's  party.  The  muster-roll  of  those  ill-fated  sentinels 
that  defended  the  Thermopylae  of  New  England  for  twenty- 


132 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


seven  hours  against  General  Rigaud's  army — a  thousand 
against  ten  in  the  unequal  contest,  from  9  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  August  19th,  until  12  o'clock  the  following  day — 
must  ever  stand  high  among  the  heroic  names  emblazoned 
on  the  pages  of  New  England  history  : 

John  Hawks  Sergeant      Deerfield 

John  Norton  Chaplain 

John  Aldrich  Sentinel 

Jonathan  Bridgeman         " 


Nathaniel  Eames 
Phineas  Forbush 
Samuel  Goodman 
Nathaniel  Hitchcock 
Thomas  Knowlton 

Samuel  Lovatt 
John  Perry 
Amos  Pratt 
Josiah  Reed 
Joseph  Scott 
Moses  Scott 
Stephen  Scott 
Jacob  Shepherd 
Benjamin  Simonds 
John  Smead,  Sr. 
John  Smead,  Jr. 
Daniel  Smead 
David  Warren 


Falltown 

Mendon 

Sunderland 

Marlboro 

Westboro 

Hadley 

Brimfield 

Unknown  (Son  of  Thomas 

Knowlton) 
Mendon 
Falltown 
Shrewsbury 
Rehoboth 
Hatfield 
Falltown 
Sunderland 
Westboro 
Ware  River 
Athol 
Athol 
Athol 
Marlboro 


Mary  Smead,  Wife  of  John  Smead,  Sr. 

Elihu  Smead 
Simon  Smead 
Mary  Smead 
Captivity  Smead 

Born  after  surrender  of  Fort, 
Aug.  21,  1746. 
Miriam  Scott,  Wife  of  Moses  Scott. 
Ebenezer  Scott  )  Children  of  Moses  Scott. 
Moses  Scott,  Jr.  \ 
Rebecca  Perry,  Wife  of  John  Perry. x 


Children  of  John  Smead , 
Sr. 


1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  128. 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac     133 

At  the  time  Dr.  Williams's  party  marched  to  the  Hoosac 
ford,  General  Rigaud's  French  scouts — Sieurs,  Beaubassin, 
and  La  Force,  together  with  eight  Schaghticokes,  lay  in 
ambush  beneath  the  ferns  fringing  the  trail,  less  than  forty 
rods  east  of  Fort  Massachusetts.  They  could  have  easily 
thrust  their  longue  Carabines  forward  and  touched  the  boots 
of  the  passing  soldiers,  so  near  did  they  lie  to  the  path. 

While  the  English  colonists  were  rallying  troops  to  lay 
siege  against  New  France  during  the  spring  of  1746,  the 
Governor- General  of  Canada  also  directed  General  Rigaud 
to  rally  an  army  of  about  1200  French  and  Indians  and  seize 
some  Dutch  or  English  post  in  the  Mohawks'  or  Hoosacs' 
valley  during  August.  Rigaud's  main  army  was  composed 
of  740  French  regulars  and  Canadians;  and  Lieutenant 
Demuy's  detachment  of  470  Indians  consisted  chiefly  of  St. 
Francis  warriors  from  Becancour  and  St.  Regis  villages 
who  challenged  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosacs'  hunting- 
grounds.  A  brother  of  the  late  Cadenaret,  who  was  slain 
on  the  bank  of  the  upper  Hoosac,  June  2d,  headed  the 
motley  band,  including  Lenapes  from  Detroit,  Sauteurs  from 
Mackinaw,  Hurons,  Pottawatamies,  and  seventeen  fierce 
Mississaugers  from  Lake  Ontario. 

Demuy's  detachment  of  savages  advanced  ahead  as  a 
scouting  party  and  encamped  near  the  junction  of  Poultney 
River  with  East  Bay,  north  of  the  site  of  Whitehall.  Gen- 
eral Rigaud's  detachment  left  Montreal  on  August  3d, 
and  later  encamped  near  the  mouth  of  Otter  Creek  with 
Lake  Champlain  above  Demuy's  Indian  encampment.  At 
that  time  it  was  General  Rigaud  V  intention  to  capture  Fort 
Schenectady  in  the  Mohawks'  valley. 

"The  white  cunning,"  wrote  Cooper  in  his  Last  of  the 
Mohicans,  "had  managed  to  throw  the  tribes  into  great 
confusion,  as  respects  friends  and  enemies."  The  Hurons 
and  the  Mississaugers  from  Ontario  were  deadly  enemies  of 


134  The  Hoosac  Valley 

the  Mohawks  and  Schaghticokes.  The  St.  Francis  war- 
captain  foresaw,  therefore,  that  it  was  necessary  to  hold  a 
council  of  war  with  General  Rigaud  in  order  to  keep  peace 
among  his  mixed  tribes.  The  St.  Francis  and  St.  Regis 
warriors  were  eager  to  avenge  the  death  of  Cadenaret  and 
burn  the  English  Fort  Massachusetts  on  the  upper  Hoosac, 
instead  of  the  Dutch  forts  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  of  their 
kindred. 

General  Rigaud,  observing  the  eagerness  of  Lieutenant 
Demuy's  savages  to  devastate  Hoosac  Valley  settlements, 
listened  to  the  St.  Francis  war-captain,  who  drew  upon  the 
floor  of  the  council  room  a  rough  map  of  the  Valley  of 
Mingling  Waters,  which  he  called  Skatecook1 — known  to 
the  French  as  Kaskekouke.2  He  located  Fort  Massachu- 
setts on  the  Hoosac  headwaters  and  said:  "My  Father,  it 
will  be  easy  to  take  this  fort,  and  make  great  havoc  on  the 
lands  of  the  English.  Deign  to  listen  to  your  children  and 
follow  our  advice."  General  Rigaud  accordingly  changed 
his  plans  and  invaded  the  Hoosac  Valley. 

The  Indians,  after  the  council  of  war,  performed  a  cere- 
mony of  absolution — Kinte-kaye  or  Devil-dance  to  Hobba- 
mocko,  the  Fiend  of  Calamity,  while  chanting  Manitou's 
prayer  of  Wappanachki.  The  latter  was  preserved  by  his- 
torian Nicholas  Hecke welder  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  is 
of  local  interest,  since  Cooper  in  his  Last  of  the  Mohicans 
describes  Uncus's  chant  to  Manitou: 

O  poor  me ! 
Who  am  going  out  to  fight  the  enemy, 
And  know  not  whether  I  shall  return  again, 
To  enjoy  the  embraces  of  my  children 

And  my  wife. 

1  See  Chap.  II.  on  Origins  of  Skatecook,  and  Note  I  at  end  of  volume. 
3  Parkman,  "Fort  Massachusetts,"  in  Haifa  Century  of  Conflict. 


Cohoha  Cornfield  of  Kreigger  Rock  neighborhood  in  Hoosac  Pass  above 
junction  of  Little  Hoosac  with  Big  Hoosac.  General  Rigaud's  French  and  In- 
dian army  encamped  in  this  intervale  before  the  capture  of  the  English  Fort 
Massachusetts  on  August  20,  1746.  Kreigger  Rock  marks  the  Natural  Dam 
of  the  glacial  Lake  Bascom. 

135 


136  The  Hoosac  Valley 

O  poor  creature ! 
Whose  life  is  not  in  his  own  hands, 
Who  has  no  power  over  his  own  body, 
But  tries  to  do  his  duty 
For  the  welfare  of  his  nation. 

O  thou  Great  Spirit  above! 

Take  pity  on  my  children 

And  my  wife! 
Prevent  their  mourning  on  my  account ! 
Grant  that  I  may  be  successful  in  this  attempt, 
That  I  may  slay  my  enemy, 
And  bring  home  the  trophies  of  war 

To  my  dear  family  and  friends, 

That  we  may  rejoice  together. 

0  take  pity  on  me ! 
Give  me  strength  and  courage  to  meet  my  enemy, 
Suffer  me  to  return  again  to  my  children, 

To  my  wife! 

And  to  my  relations! 
Take  pity  on  me  and  preserve  my  life, 
And  I  will  make  thee  a  sacrifice! 

The  following  morning  General  Rigaud  left  the  younger 
Demuy  and  thirty  men  in  command  of  his  fleet  of  canoes 
near  the  site  of  Poultney  River  bridge,  north  of  Whitehall. 
He  marched  around  the  base  of  Skene  Mountain,  then  a 
portion  of  Wood  Creek  hunting-grounds  of  the  sachem  Keep- 
erdo,  known  as  Hoosac  or  Mahican  Abraham,  who  moved 
to  the  Ohio  Valley  in  1730.  About  1770,  Keeperdo's  Wood 
Creek  Tract  was  deeded  by  his  kindred,  and  without  his 
consent,  to  the  Tory,  Maj.  Philip  Skene. 

After  General  Rigaud's  army  left  the  Owl  Kill  trail  at 
Tioshoke  village,  near  the  present  site  of  Eagle  Bridge 
hamlet,  his  troopers  formed  into  two  brigades,  headed  by 
Sieur  de  La  Volterie  on  the  right  bank,  and  by  Sieur  de 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosacs     137 

Sabrevois  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Hoosac.  Demuy's  savages 
were  placed  on  the  front,  rear,  and  flanks  of  both  brigades. 
After  marching  fourteen  miles  up  the  valley,  Rigaud's 
army  encamped  about  sunset  on  Burns's  Cohoha  cornfield 
near  the  junction  of  Wash-Tub  Brook  with  Hoosac  River 
in  Kreigger  neighborhood,  now  North  Pownal,  Vt.,  fourteen 
miles  below  Fort  Massachusetts. 

Early  Tuesday  morning,  August  19th,  Beaubassin  and 
La  Force  with  their  eight  Schaghticoke  scouts  reported  to 
General  Rigaud's  Kreigger  Rock  encampment  little  of  impor- 
tance, except  the  departure  of  Dr.  Williams's  party  for  Fort 
Deerfield.  Only  a  solitary  sentinel  meanwhile  was  posted 
in  the  watch-tower,  and  the  absolute  quietude  about  the 
stricken  garrison  assured  Rigaud  that  Captain  Van  Ness 
of  Fort  St.  Croix  had  not  sent  a  friendly  warning  to  the 
English.  At  that  date  there  was  ill  feeling  between  the 
Dutch  and  English  Hoosactonians  over  the  Twenty-Mile 
Line. 

General  Rigaud  soon  roused  the  St.  Francis  war-captain 
and  addressed  his  warriors,  saying:  "My  children,  the  time 
is  near  when  we  must  get  other  meat  than  fresh  pork,  and 
we  will  eat  it  together.' *  "Meat"  referred  to  the  ransom 
money  paid  them  by  the  Governor-General  of  Canada  for 
every  English  captive  delivered  at  Quebec.  After  the  two 
chaplains  said  mass  for  the  French  and  the  St.  Francis 
warriors,  Rigaud  formed  his  army  into  two  brigades  and  in 
a  pouring  rain  marched  along  both  banks  of  the  river  through 
the  Pownal  interval,  for  about  ten  miles,  until  they  halted 
at  River  Bend  campground  in  Williamstown,  Mass.,  four 
miles  below  Fort  Massachusetts.  A  council  of  war  was 
held,  and  it  was  agreed  that  General  Rigaud's  main  army 
should  encamp  in  the  woods  west  of  the  fort,  and  Lieutenant 
Demuy's  savages  on  the  river  bank  southeast  of  the  block- 
house, and  prepare  scaling  ladders  and  battering-rams. 


138  The  Hoosac  Valley 

About  9  o'clock  Rigaud's  and  Demuy's  detachments 
surrounded  Fort  Massachusetts.  The  savages  and  Cana- 
dians upon  first  beholding  the  watch-towers  rushed  forward 
"like  lions,"  firing  aimlessly.  After  the  first  volley  from 
the  English  sharpshooters'  guns,  the  French  and  Indians 
retired  to  the  shelter  of  St.  Francis  Indian  Ledge,  sixty  rods 
north  of  the  fort.  Sergeant  Hawks,  posted  in  the  northwest 
watch-tower,  sent  a  fatal  ball  from  his  Queen's  Arm  flint- 
lock flying  to  its  mark,  through  the  breast  of  the  St.  Francis 
war-captain.  General  Rigaud  also  advanced  within  thirty 
rods  of  the  fort  with  his  ensign  to  unfurl  the  lilied  flag  of 
France,  and  received  a  painful  wound  in  his  arm.  Mean- 
while John  Aldrich  and  Jonathan  Bridgeman,  in  the  north- 
west watch-tower,  received  slight  wounds  in  the  foot  and 
thigh  from  the  French  regulars'  guns. 

About  9  o'clock  in  the  evening  it  became  very  dark  and 
cloudy,  and  Chaplain  Norton  sent  a  volley  of  buckshot 
whizzing  aimlessly  against  the  howling  enemy.  The  whole 
army  soon  appeared  to  surround  the  fort,  after  which  they 
gave  three  successive,  hideous  war-whoops.  A  guard  was 
later  set  about  the  blockhouse  gate,  and  both  Rigaud's  and 
Demuy's  troops  retired  to  their  camps.  The  savages,  how- 
ever, performed  their  Kinle-kaye  (Hobbamocko-dance)  until 
late  in  the  night,  and  greatly  disturbed  the  sleep  of  the 
garrison's  sick  soldiers. 

At  sunrise  two  English  sharpshooters  were  stationed  in 
each  watch-tower,  and  the  savages  opened  fire  from  the  corn- 
field on  the  south,  while  the  French  kept  up  a  constant  fire 
from  St.  Francis  Ledge  on  the  north.  Thomas  Knowlton, 
in  the  northwest  tower,  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  head 
about  eleven  o'clock.  An  hour  later  General  Rigaud  hoisted 
a  flag  of  truce  and  desired  to  parley  with  Sergeant  Hawks, 
announcing  that  he  would  set  a  torch  to  the  fort  if  he  did 
not  surrender.     He  gave  Hawks  two  hours  in  which   to 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac      139 

render  his  decision.  The  siege  of  twenty-seven  hours  had 
exhausted  the  garrison's  ammunition  and  only  four  pounds 
of  powder  and  an  equal  amount  of  lead  remained.  Sergeant 
Hawks  and  Chaplain  Norton,  for  the  sake  of  the  sick  soldiers, 
deemed  it  wisest  to  surrender  the  fort. 

Chaplain  John  Norton,  who  was  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1737,  was  descended  from  the  Norman  Constable,  Le  Seur 
de  Norville  of  the  army  of  William  the  Conqueror  in  1066. 
He  said: 

Had  we  all  been  in  health,  or  had  there  been  only  those 
eight  of  us  that  were  in  health  (two  having  been  wounded) , 
I  believe  every  man  would  have  willingly  stood  it  out  to 
the  last.  For  my  part  I  should;  but  we  heard  that  if  we 
were  taken  by  violence,  the  sick,  the  wounded,  and  the 
women  would  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  die  by  the  hands  of 
the  savages;  therefore,  our  officer  concluded  to  surrender 
on  the  best  terms  he  could  make. ■ 

General  Rigaud  and  his  officers,  therefore,  entered  Fort 
Massachusetts  about  two  o'clock,  and  about  three  o'clock 
the  St.  Francis  warriors  impatiently  pulled  down  the  foun- 
dation wall  and  crawled,  one  after  another,  into  the  centre 
of  the  parade.  Although  the  French  officers  forbade  them 
to  molest  Knowlton,  who  was  dying  in  the  watch-tower, 
they  rushed  forward,  seized  his  body,  and  conveyed  it  out- 
side the  fort  gate.  According  to  Indian  custom,  they 
scalped  their  unconscious  victim,  and  severed  an  arm  and 
a  leg  to  carry  home  as  trophies  of  victory. 

General  Rigaud's  ensign  soon  hoisted  the  Fleur-de-lis 
flag  of  France  on  the  northwest  watch-tower,  and  the  Jesuit 
chaplain  unfurled  the  banner  of  St.  Croix  (Holy  Cross)  of 
the   Old    Roman    Church  on    the   southeast   watch-tower. 

1  Rev.  John  Norton,  Journal  of  Captivity,  1748.  Cited  by  Perry,  Origins  in 
Williamstown,  p.  141. 


140  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Meanwhile  the  feeble  English  captives  gathered  up  their 
belongings,  and  the  blockhouse  was  turned  over  to  the 
savages  to  be  plundered  and  burned,  amid  wild  war-whoops. 

The  grim  shadows  cast  by  Mount  Greylock's  ramparts 
fell  sadly  over  the  Hoosac  Pass,  while  the  clouds  of  smoke 
rising  from  the  blazing  fort  ascended  and  received  the  last 
rosy  glow  of  the  setting  sun  of  August  20,  1746.  Nature 
transformed  the  savage  scene  of  the  St.  Francis  warriors  of 
the  Cross  into  a  spectacle  of  glorious  beauty,  as  the  evening 
winds  breathed  over  the  ruins  and  fanned  the  smouldering  logs, 
lighting  them  with  fitful  flashes  of  flame.  Meanwhile  the 
torch-lights  in  the  enemies'  camp  indicated  a  general  activity, 
posting  the  English  captives  under  their  special  guards  pre- 
paratory for  their  sunrise  march  down  the  Hoosac  Pass. 
Chaplain  Norton  was  permitted  to  place  a  Notice1  of  the 
surrender  of  Fort  Massachusetts'  garrison  on  the  charred  post 
of  the  well-sweep  for  Dr.  Thomas  Williams's  returning  party. 

Rigaud,  however,  despatched  sixty  St.  Francis  and  Schagh- 
ticoke  warriors  over  the  Hoosac  Mountain  trail  to  capture 
Dr.  Williams's  party.  Not  meeting  them,  the}"  advanced  to 
Fort  Deerfield  Meadow,  where  the  "Bars  Fight"  took  place, 
on  the  28th  of  August.  Among  the  slain  may  be  mentioned 
Samuel  Allen,  Sr.,  Eleazer  Hawks,  nephew  of  Sergt.  John 
Hawks,  Adonijah  Gillet,  Constant  Bliss,  soldiers  in  Captain 
Holson's  militia,  and  two  children  of  the  widow  Amsdel. 
Samuel  Allen's  little  son  Samuel  was  captured,  while  his 
brother  Caleb  escaped.  The  Indians  were  in  the  act  of 
tomahawking  their  sister  Eunice  when  routed.  She  recov- 
ered, and  according  to  the  Journals  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Doo- 
little  of  Northfield  and  Deacon  Noah  Wright  of  Deerfield, 
the  return  captive,  Samuel  Allen,  and  his  brother  Caleb, 
and  sister  Eunice,  all  resided  in  Deerfield  Valley  in  1795. 

Lieutenant    Demuy   and   Chaplain   Norton   headed   the 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  42-175. 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac      141 

English  captives  at  dawn,  August  21st,  down  Hoosac  Road 
four  miles,  and  they  rested  at  River  Bend  Camp.  War- 
whoops  often  reached  Chaplain  Norton's  ears  and  he  feared 
the  worst,  but  he  was  full  of  admiration  when  he  saw  the 
wounded  John  Aldrich  approaching,  mounted  on  the  back 
of  his  savage  master.  Benjamin  Simonds  and  Josiah  Read 
were  dangerously  ill  at  the  time,  and  the  latter  died  a  few 
miles  below  in  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  Pownal. 

About  sunset,  General  Rigaud's  army  encamped  on  the 
Van  Derrick  meadow,  near  the  junction  of  the  Little  Hoosac 
with  the  Hoosac  in  Petersburgh,  New  York.  Mrs.  John 
Smead,  Mrs.  Moses  Scott,  and  Mrs.  John  Perry,  and  their 
children  tarried  in  the  rear.  The  gallant  French  officers 
made  a  seat  for  Mrs.  Smead  and  bore  her  safely  to  the 
shelter  of  the  Van  Derrick  Mansion,  where  about  ten  o'clock 
was  born  her  infant  daughter,  christened  "Captivity." 
The  mother  and  child  were  the  next  morning  conveyed  ten 
miles  on  a  cot,  prepared  from  poles  covered  with  bear-skins, 
to  the  Van  Ness  Mansion,  near  Fort  St.  Croix. 

Four  fleet  horses  were  secured  from  the  Van  Ness  stables 
by  General  Rigaud  for  his  couriers  to  convey  a  message  to 
the  Governor-General,  Marquis  de  la  Galissoniere,  at  Quebec. 
Other  horses  were  caught  in  the  pasture  for  Benjamin  Simonds 
and  John  Aldrich  to  ride  to  East  Bay,  near  the  site  of  White- 
hall. The  captives  arrived  at  their  destination  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  on  August  26th  and  embarked  in  the 
canoes  for  Fort  St.  Frederic,  where  they  tarried  until  Septem- 
ber 4th.  The  party  arrived  at  Three  Rivers,  Canada, 
September  13th,  where  General  Rigaud's  officers,  Sergeant 
Hawks  and  Chaplain  Norton,  were  entertained  by  the 
Governor  of  New  France.  The  captives  landed  near  the 
junction  of  the  St.  Lawrence  with  the  Loretto  in  Quebec, 
September  15th,  and  were  reviewed  by  the  Governor-General, 
who  assigned  them  to  the  pestiferous  Battery  prison-houses. 


142  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  Fort  Massachusetts  captives  on  August  20,  1746, 
numbered  thirty  souls — twenty-two  men,  three  women, 
and  five  children.  Of  these,  Thomas  Knowlton  and  Josiah 
Read  died,  and  " Captivity"  Smead  was  born  the  next  day. 
The  twenty-nine  English  Hoosac  captives,  together  with 
seventy-six  Dutch  Hoosac  captives,  were  assigned  to  the 
prison-pens  of  Quebec,  on  September  15th.  Most  of  them 
died  during  their  sad  year  of  captivity. 

Only  fourteen  of  the  twenty-nine  English  unfortunates, 
including  four  children,  Sergeant  John  Hawks,  Chaplain 
John  Norton,  Stephen  Scott,  David  Warren,  John  Perry, 
Joseph  Scott,  John  Aldrich,  Moses  Scott,  Benjamin  Simonds, 
and  John  Smead,  Sr.,  returned  to  their  homes.  Those  cap- 
tives, on  July  25,  1747,  were  placed  on  board  the  ship, 
Vierge-de-Grace  (Handsome  Virgin),  by  the  Governor  of 
Canada,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  16th  of  August.  Col- 
onel Winslow,  great  grandson  of  Gov.  Edward  Winslow  of 
Mayflower  fame,  welcomed  Chaplain  John  Norton.  The 
returned  captive  hastened  forward  to  meet  his  family  at 
Fort  Shirley,  and  arrived  soon  after  the  burial  of  his  little 
daughter  Anna.  Her  tombstone  was  recovered  one  hundred 
and  forty  years  later  from  the  neglected  "God's  Acre"  of 
Fort  Shirley  by  the  late  historian,  Prof.  Arthur  Latham 
Perry  of  Williams,  and  is  now  deposited  in  Perry's  Historical 
Collection  at  Clark  Hall,  in  Williamstown,  Mass. 

During  1748,  Chaplain  Norton  accepted  the  pastorship  of 
the  Old  East  Hampton  Church  in  Connecticut.  His  tomb- 
stone in  the  burial-field  bears  the  inscription : 

IN    MEMORY    OF 

The  Rev.  John  Norton 

Pastor  of  the  3d  Church  in  Chatham 

Who  died  with  Small  Pox 

March  24th  a.d.  1778 
In  the  63d  year  of  his  Age. 


Fort  Massachusetts  and  English  Hoosac      143 

Sergt.  John  Hawks,  the  "Hero  of  Fort  Massachusetts," 
and  Lieut.  John  Catlin,  2d,  the  builder  of  Fort  Massachu- 
setts, resided  later  in  Old  Deerfield.  Sergeant  Hawks, 
during  February,  1748,  in  company  with  Lieut.  Matthew 
Claesson  and  Sergt.  John  Taylor,  delivered  the  French 
captive,  Pierre  Rambout,  to  the  Governor- General  of  Canada 
in  exchange  for  Samuel  Allen,  nephew  of  Sergeant  Hawks, 
captured  during  the  "Bars  Fight"  at  Old  Deerfield,  in  1746. 
Sergeant  Hawks' s  tombstone  in  the  Old  Burial-Field  of 
Deerfield  bears  the  inscription: 

IN   MEMORY   OF   COL.  JOHN   HAWKS 

Who  died  June  24,  1784 
In  the  77th  year  of  his  Age. 

The  Fort  Massachusetts  carpenter,  John  Perry,  after  his 
return  from  captivity,  petitioned  the  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lature, November  5,  17471  for  reimbursement  for  his  log 
house,  a  mile  west  of  the  fort,  burned  by  Rigaud's  army, 
during  the  summer  of  1746.  He  failed  to  receive  compen- 
sation for  his  losses,  however,  and  later  moved  to  Vermont 
and  aided  in  building  Fort  Putney,  which  was  modelled 
after  Fort  Massachusetts.  He  is  believed  to  have  married 
an  Indian  squaw,  and  descendants  of  his  still  reside  in  Hoosac 
Pass  of  Pownal,Vt. 

Benjamin  Simonds  was  left  ill  in  the  Quebec  Hospital  at  the 
time  the  Fort  Massachusetts  captives  returned  to  Boston. 
He  returned  later  and  was  the  only  surviving  captive  to 
settle  in  English  Hoosac.  Among  the  first  captives  to  die 
in  prison  may  be  named:  Nathaniel  Eames  on  Nov.  17, 
1746;  Miriam,  wife  of  Moses  Scott,  Dec.  nth;  Rebecca, 
wife  of  John  Perry,  Dec.  23d;  Moses  Scott,  Jr.,  son  of  Moses 
Scott,  Sr.,  Feb.  n,  1747;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Smead,  March 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  189-190. 


144  The  Hoosac  Valley 

29th;  and   "Captivity,"   infant  daughter  of  the  Smeads, 
three  weeks  after  her  mother. 

The  record  of  the  deaths  of  the  Fort  Massachusetts 
garrison  soldiers  and  the  return  of  the  surviving  redeemed 
captives  is  found  in  Rev.  John  Norton's  Journal1  and  in 
Sergt.  John  Hawks's  Report2  to  the  General  Court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1749.  At  the  time  Fort  Massachusetts  was 
burned  on  August  20, 1746,  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  was 
recruiting  garrison  soldiers.  His  muster-roll3  contains  the 
names  of  the  first  men  who  served  in  the  second  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts, rebuilt  on  the  Hoosac  Meadow,  ten  months  later, 
on  June  1,  1747. 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  179-185. 

2  See  Note  4,  at  end  o"  volume. 

3  See  Note  5,  at  end  of  volume. 


CHAPTER  VII 

EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS  AND  THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE 

i 747-1 755 

The  deeds  he  did,  the  fields  he  won, 
The  freedom  he  restored. 

Sir  Edward  Shepherd  Creasy,   Victory  of 
Arminius  over  Varus' s  Roman  Legions,  a.d.  q. 

Fort  Massachusetts  Rebuilt — Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  Will — Battle  of  Lake 
George — Death  of  Colonel  Williams — Tomb  and  Monuments — General 
Dieskau's  St.  Francis  Legions. 

THE  Williams  family  of  Old  Berkshire  were  of  Welsh 
origin  and  were  descended  from  Robert  Williams  of 
Norwich,  England,  who  settled  at  Roxbury,  Mass.,  in  1638. 
He  was  "the  common  ancestor  of  the  divines,  civilians,  and 
warriors  of  this  name,  who  have  honored  the  country  of 
their  birth."1 

Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  and  his  brother,  Thomas  Wil- 
liams, were  sons  of  Ephraim  Williams,  Sr.,  and  his  second 
wife,  Elizabeth  Jackson  Williams,  and  were  born  at  Newton, 
March  7, 1714,  and  April  1,  1718,  respectively.  The  former, 
during  early  life,  visited  England,  Spain,  and  Holland,  and 
the  latter  graduated  from  Yale  in  1742  and  became  a  sur- 
geon in  Old  Deerfield.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  was  a  large 
and  commanding  person,  and  he  acquired  a  general  know- 
ledge of  the  world.     President  Fitch  of  Williams  College  in 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  215-371. 
10  i45 


146  The  Hoosac  Valley 

1802  wrote:1  that  "he  often  lamented  his  want  of  a  liberal 
education."  His  obliging  deportment  and  generosity  en- 
deared him  to  all  classes  of  men,  and  his  address  procured 
him  a  greater  influence  at  the  General  Court  of  Boston, 
during  his  command  of  the  cordon  of  the  border  forts,  than 
any  other  man  perhaps  enjoyed  during  Shirley's  War  in 
New  England.  He  won  the  esteem  of  Governor  Shirley 
and  met  at  several  military  councils  with  George  Washing- 
ton, Benjamin  Franklin  and  William  Johnson. 

It  was  vaguely  hinted  that  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  contem- 
plated marriage  with  his  cousin,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Maj. 
Israel  Williams  of  Hatfield ;  although  for  unknown  reasons 
he  changed  his  plans  before  making  his  Will2  in  Albany 
previous  to  his  march  to  Lake  George  in  1755. 

Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  was  thirty-three  years  of  age  at  the 
time  Fort  Massachusetts  was  rebuilt  in  1747.  Governor 
Shirley,  April  10,  1747,  directed  that  a  more  commodious 
blockhouse  be  erected  on  the  Hoosac  Meadow  for  a  garrison 
of  thirty  soldiers  and  extra  reinforcements.  Three  4-pounder 
guns  were  shipped  by  way  of  Hudson  River  to  Van  Der 
Heyden  ferry,  on  the  site  of  Troy,  and  mounted  later  upon 
the  watch-towers  of  the  fort. 

Col.  William  Williams  of  Pittsfield,  in  company  with  Maj. 
Ephraim  Williams,  Sr.,  of  Stockbridge,  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  carpenters,  and  Maj.  Israel  Williams,  com- 
missary-general of  the  cordon  of  border  forts.  Maj.  Israel 
Williams  and  Col.  William  Williams  were  nephews  of  Col. 
John  Stoddard,  then  commander  of  the  Hampshire  (Berk- 
shire) County  militia.  Colonel  Stoddard  advised  Governor 
Shirley  to  station  one  hundred  soldiers  at  Fort  Massachu- 
setts.    Part  of  the  men  patrolled  the  trails  northward  to 

1  President  Fitch's  "  Sketch  of  Life  of  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,"  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc,  viii. 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  479-483. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  147 

Lake  Champlain,  southward  to  Pontoosac,  and  eastward 
to  Fort  Dummer  on  the  Connecticut. 

During  May,  1747,  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  joined 
by  Maj.  Israel  Williams  and  one  hundred  soldiers,  guarded 
the  passage  of  the  artillery  from  Van  Der  Hey  den  ferry  and 
the  supplies  sent  from  Albany  in  huge  Dutch  vans  up  the 
Hoosac  Road.  All  went  merrily  until  May  25th,  when  the 
vanguards  arrived  at  John  Perry's  meadow,  a  mile  below 
Fort  Massachusetts.  Here  they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of 
French  and  St.  Francis  warriors;  part  of  the  enemy  engaged 
the  fort  carpenters  and  the  guards,  while  the  rest  blocked 
the  road  in  order  to  prevent  the  arrival  of  the  Dutch  vans 
of  provision  and  cannon.  The  hot  fire  of  the  fort  guards  on 
the  enemy's  rear  and  the  repulsing  fire  of  the  vanguards 
on  the  enemy's  front  soon  drove  them  to  the  Indian  Ledge, 
and  the  stores  arrived  safely  with  the  loss  of  only  one  Stock- 
bridge  Indian. 

The  exterior  of  the  blockhouse1  was  finished  June  1,  1747, 
and  according  to  historian  Perry  was  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  square.  The  barracks  were  seventy  feet 
in  length  by  thirty  feet  in  width,  with  a  seven-foot  post  and 
low  roof.  The  house  was  divided  into  two  departments, 
sub-divided  into  two  rooms  each  with  a  fireplace. 

Two  years  later,  on  July  23,  1748,  the  patrolling  scout 
from  Fort  Schaghticoke  was  followed  up  to  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts by  savages.  At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
August  2d,  Lieutenants  Severance  and  Hawley  2  and  forty 
soldiers  laden  with  provisions  from  Fort  Deerfield  noted 
another  band  of  warriors  skulking  along  behind  them. 
Sharpshooters  were  later  posted  in  the  watch-towers  and 
about  six  o'clock  the  bloodhounds  located  an  ambuscade 

xSee  illustration  of  first  Fort  Massachusetts,  Chapter  VI.,  p.  129. 
2  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams's  Letter  to  Maj.  Israel  Williams,  Aug.  2,  1748; 
Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  208-209. 


148  The  Hoosac  Valley 

of  Indians  near  the  Hoosac  ford.  Captain  Williams  was 
preparing  to  send  forth  fifty  men  to  rout  the  enemy,  when 
a  savage  fired  upon  one  of  the  dogs. 

A  party  of  undisciplined  lads  rushed  outside  the  gate  to 
see  the  sport  and  immediately  fifteen  guns  were  turned  upon 
them,  and  Captain  Williams  was  forced  to  advance  with  only 
thirty-five  men  in  order  to  prevent  their  being  scalped. 
A  hot  skirmish  ensued  for  ten  minutes  and  the  savages 
retreated,  only  to  allow  an  ambush  of  fifty  warriors  to  rise 
ten  rods  from  the  fort  gate.  The  English  quickly  entered 
the  fort  gate  and  turned  the  cannon  and  small  arms  upon  the 
enemy.  For  an  hour  and  three  quarters  by  the  hour-glass 
there  were  loud  war-whoops,  after  which  the  Indians  sullenly 
retreated  down  the  valley.  Two  English  soldiers  were  mor- 
tally wounded  and  died  later.  One  of  the  cannon-balls 
fired  upon  that  eventful  morning  was  found  by  Capt.  Clem- 
ent Harrison  over  a  century  later  imbedded  in  the  roots  of  an 
upturned  oak  on  St.  Francis  Ledge.  It  now  reposes  among 
the  relics  in  the  museum  of  the  Fort  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society  in  the  North  Adams  Public  Library. 

The  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  on  October 
18,  1748,  closed  King  George's  War  between  England  and 
France  and  Fort  Massachusetts  garrison  decreased  in  num- 
bers. The  muster-roll1  between  December,  1747,  and  March, 
1748,  contains  forty-two  names  under  Lieutenant  Hawley, 
and  the  subsequent  autumn  muster-roll  contains  the  names 
of  eighty-four  soldiers,  thirty  of  whom  were  dismissed  later. 
The  closing  muster-roll2  for  December  II,  1749,  contains 
fifty-four  names  under  command  of  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams, 
Jr. ;  and  the  opening  muster-roll3  of  1750  for  the  three  border 
forts,  Massachusetts,  Pelham,  and  Shirley  enrolled  only 
twenty-one  names,  proving  that  temporary  peace  reigned 
on  the  frontier. 

'See  note  6,  at  end  of  volume.  a  Ibid.,  note  7.  *Ibid.,  note  8. 


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149 


150  The  Hoosac  Valley 

During  the  early  part  of  1750  Captain  Williams  was 
granted  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  about  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts, besides  a  valuable  mill-lot  near  the  junction  of  the 
Mayoonsac  with  the  Ashawaghsac  on  the  site  of  North 
Adams.  Ten  acres  surrounding  Fort  Massachusetts  was 
reserved  for  a  garrison  garden. 

The  muster-roll *  closing  January,  1 751 ,  contains  only  seven- 
teen names  under  command  of  Captain  Williams,  all  of 
whom  became  proprietors  of  house-lots  in  West  Hoosac, 
now  Williamstown.  During  the  early  summer  of  1751, 
Jedidiah  Hurd  built  Ephraim  Williams's  Mills  on  his  mill- 
lot.  At  the  same  time  a  bridge  was  erected  over  the  Asha- 
waghsac ford,  connecting  the  grist-mill  with  the  saw-mill; 
and  a  watch-tower  forty  feet  high  by  eight  feet  square  was 
built  on  the  northwest  angle  of  Fort  Massachusetts.  Cap- 
tain Williams  readjusted  his  artillery  and  hoisted  an  English 
flag  with  "halyards  five  yard  fly."  This  was  the  first 
English  flag  unfurled  in  Hoosac  Valley. 

On  August  18,  1 75 1,  Captain  Williams  and  his  garrison 
soldiers,  Isaac  Wyman,  Samuel  Calhoun,  Ezekiel  Foster, 
Silas  Pratt,  Elisha  Chapin,  and  Dr.  Seth  Hudson,  Gent., 
petitioned  the  General  Court  to  enclose  two  and  three-fourth 
acres  of  the  ten  acres  of  the  garrison  garden  with  a  palisade, 
as  Indians  still  hovered  about  the  valley.  A  week  later 
eight  Schaghticoke  chieftains  called  on  Captain  Williams 
at  Fort  Massachusetts  and  said :a that  "the  land  was  theirs, 
and  the  English  had  no  business  to  Settle  it  Until  such  times 
as  they  had  purchased  of  them  ...  it  was  theirs  as  far 
South  as  the  head  of  all  streams  that  Emtied  into  Hoosuck 
River  .  .  .  and  their  price  was  £800  ye  York  money." 
Captain  Williams  replied  that  their  price  was  too  high  and 
that  the  English  "now  held  the  land  by  Right  of  Conquest." 

An  English  scout  from  Fort  Dummer  on  August  27,  1751, 

1  See  note  9,  at  end  of  volume.  2  Ibid.,  note  10. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  151 

reported  that  the  St.  Francis,  Penobscot,  St.  Regis,  and 
Schaghticoke  kindred  were  on  the  war-path  headed  for 
English  Hoosac.  Col.  Israel  Williams  directed  Capt. 
Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  to  set  the  proposed  three  thou- 
sand pickets  about  the  garrison  garden  on  September  1st, 
although  the  savages  did  not  disturb  the  Fort. 

Lieut. -Governor  Phipps  on  September  3,  1751,  reported 
the  Schaghticokes'  challenge  to  ownership  of  the  headwaters 
of  the  Hoosac  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  On  January 
23,  1752,  Captain  Williams  of  Fort  Massachusetts  and  Col- 
onel Lydius  of  Albany  were  appointed  to  make  an  "Enquiry 
respecting  the  Indian  Title"  in  order  to  ascertain  whether 
it  belonged  to  the  Schaghticokes  or  to  the  Stockbridge  chief- 
tains. But  the  approach  of  the  French  and  Indian  War 
closed  all  negotiations  of  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts 
with  the  Schaghticokes. 

Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  resigned  the  command  of  the 
border  forts  and  was  commissioned  major  of  the  southern 
regiment  of  Hampshire  militia,  June  7,  1753,  under  Col. 
John  Worthington  of  Springfield.  He  sold  his  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts farm  and  mills  to  his  successor,  Capt.  Elisha 
Chapin,  who  commanded  Fort  Massachusetts  between  June 
1,  1 75 1,  and  September  1,  1754. 

Meanwhile,  in  August,  1754,  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  Sr., 
died  at  the  home  of  his  cousin,  a  daughter  of  Col.  Israel 
Williams,  and  wife  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Ashley  of  Old  Deerfield. 
His  gravestone  is  located  near  the  tomb  of  Sergt.  John 
Hawks,  and  the  epitaph  reads  as  follows: 


IN   MEMORY  OF 
COL°   EPHRAIM    WILLIAMS,  Esq. 

Of  Stockbridge,  Who  died  Augst  Ye 

11th,  1754,  In  Ye  63d  Year  of 

His  Age 


152  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Blest  be  that  Hand  Divine  which  laid 

My  Heart  at  rest  beneath  this  humble  shed. 

Col.  Israel  Williams  desired  Maj.  Ephraim  Williams  to 
take  command  of  Fort  Massachusetts  in  1754,  and  requested 
Governor  Shirley  to  retire  Capt.  Elisha  Chapin.1  The 
Governor  did  not  wish  it  to  appear  to  the  world  that  he  had 
offered  the  worthy  Captain  Chapin  a  military  slight  to 
favor  the  request  of  Col.  Israel  Williams,  known  as  the 
Tory  "Monarch  of  Berkshire"  and  desirous  only  of  immor- 
talizing the  name  of  the  "Williams  family.' '  Capt.  Elisha 
Chapin  was  retired,  and  his  muster-roll2  of  Fort  Massachu- 
setts garrison  between  June,  1752  and  1753  contains  the 
names  of  the  founders  of  Fort  Hoosac  and  Williamstown. 

The  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  followed 
by  the  St.  Francis  raids  in  Hoosac  Valley  during  May  and 
August,  1754.  Three  expeditions  were  planned  against  New 
France  under  Generals  Braddock,  Shirley,  and  Johnson. 
About  April  10,  1755,  General  Shirley  commissioned  Maj. 
Ephraim  Williams  of  Fort  Massachusetts  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment, and  he  rallied  his  volunteer  troops  mainly  from 
Massachusetts  border  forts.  The  last  muster-roll3  of 
Fort  Massachusetts,  under  command  of  Ephraim  Williams, 
bears  date  between  September  1,  1754,  and  March,  1755, 
sworn  to  previous  to  his  march  with  his  regiment  from  Boston, 
June  13, 1755,  to  Greenbush  encampment.  The  muster-roll4 
under  Lieut.  Isaac  Wyman,  was  dated  in  July,  1755. 

Col.  Ephraim  Williams  marched  his  troops  over  the 
"Old  Albany  Road,"  built  in  1735  by  the  English  mission- 
aries between  Barrington  and  North  Egremont  to  Green- 
bush,  N.  Y.,  and  encamped  on  the  site  of  the  subsequent 
"Mount  Madison  Cantonments"  of  Revolutionary  days. 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  250-255.  *Ibid.,  note  12. 

a  See  note  11,  at  end  of  volume.  ^Ibid.,  note  13. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  153 

Saturday,  previous  to  July  8,  1755,  Colonel  Williams  was 
quartered  with  Capt.  Smith  Ayers,  General  Braddock's 
engineer.  Ayers's  grandson,  Thomas  Ayers,  resided  on  a 
farm  in  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  at  the  opening  of  1800  and 
married  a  granddaughter  of  Patroon  Hendrick  Schneider  of 
"Schneider  Patent"  in  Dutch  Hoosac.  Captain  Ayers  and 
Colonel  Williams  were  placed  in  command  of  building  a  fleet 
of  boats  to  convey  provisions  up  the  Hudson.  General 
Johnson  later  designated  Colonel  Williams's  regiment  to 
build  military  roads  and  forts  between  Fort  Albany  and 
Lake  St.  Sacrament. 

Supplies  were  short  at  Colonel  Williams's  Greenbush  camp. 
In  a  letter  to  Col.  Israel  Williams,  dated  July  15,  1755,  he 
stated  that  many  of  his  men  were  ill  for  want  of  proper  food. 
At  the  same  time  General  Johnson's  officers  were  greatly 
depressed  by  the  report  of  Braddock's  death  on  July  9th. 
A  military  jealousy  existed  between  Generals  Shirley,  John- 
son, and  Washington.  The  last  two  mentioned  were  both 
gallant  youths  of  twenty-two,  while  General  Shirley  was  their 
elder  and  was  appointed  major-general  of  the  army. 

Col.  Ephraim  Williams  visited  a  lawyer  in  Albany  and 
drew  up  his  last  Will1  on  July  22,  1755.  He  sent  it  with  a 
letter  of  advice  to  his  cousin,  Col.  Israel  Williams,  at  Hatfield. 
The  will  contained  a  clause  to  provide  for  the  founding  of 
a  free  school  in  East  Hoosac,  now  North  Adams,  and  West 
Hoosac,  now  Williamstown,  for  the  children  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts garrison  soldiers. 

Early  on  August  2d,  Colonel  Williams  and  his  troops  were 
ordered  to  march  up  the  Hudson  to  Fort  Lyman,  christened 
in  honor  of  its  builder,  Colonel  Lyman.  General  Johnson 
promptly  rechristened  the  post,  Fort  Edward,  after  King 
George's  grandson.  This  slight  to  his  First  Lieutenant 
roused  the  enmity  of  the  New  England  soldiers.     In  order  to 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  479-483. 


154  The  Hoosac  Valley 

patch  up  the  slight,  the  gallant  Irish  General  rechristened 
Lake  St.  Sacrament,  Lake  George;  and  after  the  English  fort 
was  built,  during  the  autumn,  at  the  head  of  Lake  George, 
he  designated  it  Fort  William  Henry  in  honor  of  King 
George's  brother.  Later  Gen.  William  Johnson  was  bur- 
dened with  the  title  of  baronet,  and  Parliament  voted  him 
£5000  for  his  services  for  christening,  rather  than  for 
building,  forts. 

Owing  to  a  coolness  arising  between  General  Johnson  and 
Lieut.-Colonel  Lyman,  Col.  Ephraim  Williams  was  appointed 
to  lead  the  New  England  troops  against  Dieskau's  St. 
Francis  Legions  of  Canada.  The  regiment  of  four  hundred 
men  and  thirty  officers  comprised  ten  companies,  which  were 
headed  by  Colonel  Williams,  Lieut.-Colonel  Pomeroy,  Major 
Ashley,  and  Captains  House,  Burt,  Hawley,  Porter,  Ingersoll, 
Hitchcock,  and  Doolittle. 

Colonel  Williams's  men  were  delayed  two  weeks  at  Fort 
Edward  before  General  Johnson's  Mohawk  scout  returned 
from  Canada.  He  reported  that  General  Dieskau  was  on 
the  march  with  eight  thousand  French  and  St.  Francis 
warriors  headed  for  Fort  St.  Frederic.  A  council  of  war 
was  called,  August  22d,  after  which  reinforcements  were 
requested  from  the  colonies. 

On  August  23,  1755,  Colonel  Williams  wrote  from  Fort 
Edward  his  last  letter  which  was  addressed  to  Col.  Israel 
Williams,  in  which  he  said:  "Not  less  than  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  men  are  needed  to  reduce  Crown  Point."  At  that 
time  Johnson's  army  did  not  exceed  three  thousand  men, 
including  the  New  Hampshire  troops,  and  Colonel  Williams 
exclaimed: 

Therefore  suffer  me  once  for  all  to  beg  of  you  to  exert 
yourself  for  your  country — it  's  upon  the  brink  of  ruin. 
It 's  who  shall  remember  Sr  what  King  William  said,  when 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  155 

the  case  of  the  Dutch  was  pretty  much  the  same,  with 
our's — I  pray  God  unite  your  Councils,  and  show  the  world 
you  are  true  patriots  of  your  Country,  and  give  to  us  to 
behave  as  becomes  Englishmen.1 

Three  days  later  General  Johnson  broke  up  his  Fort  Edward 
encampment  and  on  August  26th  marched  to  the  head  of 
Lake  George.  He  left  Col.  Joshua  Blanchard  with  Captains 
McGinnis  and  Folsom,  and  their  five  hundred  New  Hamp- 
shire troops,  to  defend  Fort  Edward.  Meanwhile  General 
Dieskau  and  his  legions  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Frederic.  He 
sent  out  scouts  to  locate  Johnson's  army  and  followed  with 
a  scouting  brigade  of  3500  French  regulars,  Canadians, 
and  St.  Francis  and  Abnaquis  warriors,  intending  to  seize 
Fort  Edward.  He  captured  the  American  wagoner,  Adams, 
who  was  on  his  way  to  warn  Colonel  Blanchard  of  the 
enemy's  advance.  He  learned  that  Johnson's  main  army 
lay  encamped  at  head  of  Lake  George  and  called  a  council 
of  war;  his  Indians  refused  to  face  the  mounted  cannon  of 
Fort  Edward,  but  were  eager  to  attack  the  English  about 
Lake  George. 

At  midnight,  Sunday,  September  7,  1755,  Johnson's 
wagoner  brought  news  also  of  French  and  Indians  marching 
toward  Fort  Edward.  He  called  a  council  of  war,  at  which 
it  was  planned  to  send  two  detachments  of  five  hundred 
troops  each  to  overtake  the  enemy  in  their  retreat  from  Fort 
Edward.  King  Hendrick  of  the  Mohawks  at  that  time  was 
over  eighty  years  old,  and  he  significantly  took  up  a  stick 
and  easily  broke  it  in  two.  He  then  put  several  sticks  to- 
gether which  he  could  not  break.  He  shook  his  head  and 
in  his  broken  English  said:  "If  they  are  to  be  killed,  too 
many;  if  they  are  to  fight,  too  few."  General  Johnson 
thus  joined  both  detachments  in  one  body  commanded  by 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  337-338. 


156   .  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Colonel  Williams,  King  Hendrick's  two  hundred  Mohawks 
being  placed  in  front  to  act  as  scouting  party. 

Monday,  September  8,  1755,  about  eight  o'clock,  Colonel 
Williams  began  his  march  down  the  Fort  Edward  Road. 
After  advancing  two  miles  the  cowardly  Mohawks  fell  to 
the  rear,  and  Colonel  Williams  halted  his  army  while  they 
marched  to  the  front  ranks.  General  Dieskau,  meanwhile, 
had  no  intention  of  retreating  from  Fort  Edward  and  he 
planned  to  surprise  Colonel  Williams  as  General  Braddock 
had  been  outwitted  on  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela  in 
Ohio  Valley.  He  placed  his  warriors  on  three  sides  of  the 
deep  ravines  of  the  Old  Military  Road,  so  as  to  form  a 
"Hook"1  or  letter  "U,"  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  Colonel 
Williams's  troopers. 

At  half -past  ten  o'clock  the  Mohawks  had  wholly  marched 
within  the  trap  and  were  quickly  followed  by  Colonel  Wil- 
liams and  King  Hendrick.  The  latter,  mounted  on  John- 
son's Narragansett  pony  owing  to  his  age,  rode  abreast 
of  Colonel  Williams.  He  exclaimed:  "I  smell  Indians!"  At 
that  instant  a  St.  Francis  warrior  asked  him:  "Whence 
come  you?"  To  which  Hendrick  replied:  "From  the 
Mohawks.  Whence  come  you? "  He  replied :  "From  Mon- 
treal." At  that  instant  a  report  of  a  longue  Carabine 
warned  their  kindred  Mohawk  and  Schaghticoke  scouts, 
but  too  late.  A  terrible  war-whoop  rang  through  the  forests 
and  this  was  answered  by  the  French  and  Canadian  rifles. 
The  Mohawks  fell  on  all  sides  and  King  Hendrick  was 
bayoneted. 

Colonel  Williams  ordered  his  men  to  ascend  a  hill  on  the 
right,  when  a  volley  from  its  western  slope  sent  a  fatal  ball 
through  his  head,  and  he  fell  to  rise  no  more.  Confusion 
reigned  until  Lieut.-Colonel  Whiting  rallied  Williams's 
scattered  men,  while  the  French  regulars  pursued  them  to 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  illustration,  p.  349. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  157 

the  shore  of  a  small  pond  two  miles  south  of  the  English 
encampment.  Johnson  overheard  the  raging  battle  and 
ordered  Lieut. -Colonel  Cole  with  three  hundred  men  to 
reinforce  Colonel  Whiting's  men.  General  Dieskau's  men 
were  an  hour  and  a  half  driving  them  into  Johnson's  camp. 

The  hot  fire  of  Johnson's  cannon  was  turned  upon  the 
French  regulars  for  an  hour  before  they  were  repulsed. 
General  Dieskau  later  recorded  that:  "The  English,  in  ye 
morning,  fought  like  good  boys,  at  noon  like  men,  but  in  the 
afternoon  like  the  Devil."  Johnson's  cannonading,  not- 
withstanding that  the  wind  blew  from  the  south,  was  over- 
heard in  Old  Saratoga.  General  Johnson  received  a  painful 
wound  in  his  thigh,  after  which  the  command  of  the  whole 
army  fell  to  his  slighted  Lieut. -Colonel  Lyman,  who,  although 
in  the  heat  and  fury  of  that  terrible  day,  escaped  without 
a  scratch. 

General  Dieskau,  twice  wounded,  ordered  his  adjutant 
to  abandon  him  and  lead  his  men  forward  in  one  last  attack 
against  the  English.  It  was  too  late,  and  one  by  one  the 
English  wagoners  and  camp  followers  leaped  over  the  para- 
pet of  the  French  earthworks  and  plundered  the  dead  and 
captured  the  weapons  of  the  wounded  and  dying.  Thus 
closed  the  Noon-day  Scout. 

As  Dieskau's  Canadian  Legions  retreated  from  the  shores 
of  Lake  George,  they  met  the  grandsons  of  Kryn's  Caughna- 
wagas  and  Rale's  St.  Francis  warriors,  who  deserted  Dieskau 
during  the  "Early  Morning  Scout."  They  fled  before  the  hot 
fire  of  Captains  McGinnis's  and  Folsom's  three  hundred  New 
Hampshire  Scotch-Irish  and  Dutch  lads,  who  had  overheard 
a  "Noise  of  a  Multitude  of  Guns"  at  Fort  Edward.  They 
arrived  on  the  battle-field  in  time  to  close  the  Sunset  Scout 
and  help  win  the  victory.  While  McGinnis  was  giving  final 
orders  to  his  men,  he  was  mortally  wounded,  although  he 
realized  it  not,  and  fell  fainting  to  the  ground. 


158  The  Hoosac  Valley 

An  exultant  shout  of  victory  of  the  English  rang  through 
the  moaning  ravines  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
as  the  long  shadows  reflected  the  forests  in  the  clear  depths  of 
the  old  Horicon's  lake,  while  the  shores  of  the  little  pond  two 
miles  south  lay  thickly  strewn  with  the  dead  and  dying 
enemy.  The  Roman  Legions  of  New  France,  recorded  Dr. 
Thomas  Williams  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  at  Old  Deerfield, 
dated  September  II,  1755,  "Were  smartly  paid,  for  they  left 
their  garments  and  weapons  of  war  for  miles  together,  after 
their  brush  with  the  Hampshire  troops,  like  the  Assyrians 
in  their  flight.,, 

Lieut-Col.  Seth  Pomeroy  reported  that  he  was  the  only 
surviving  field-officer  of  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  regiment. 
]^e  prepared  "forty  biers  made  of  cross-poles"  to  collect 
the  dead  upon,  and  sent  troops  for  miles  about  the  ravines 
to  gather  the  English,  French,  and  Indian  victims.  Hun- 
dreds of  the  enemy  slain  on  the  shores  of  the  little  pond 
south  of  Lake  George  were  thrown  in  the  shallow  waters, 
which  reflected  the  stain  of  a  nation's  blood.  The  lakelet 
is  to-day  known  as  "Bloody  Pond." 

The  body  of  Colonel  Williams  was  found  on  the  rocky 
eminence  where  he  met  death,  west  of  the  Old  Military 
Road.  His  brother,  Dr.  Thomas  Williams,  recovered  his 
"French  firearms,  case  of  pistols,  sword  and  watch,"  after 
which  he  was  buried  beneath  a  large  pine  tree  near  where  he 
fell.  His  French  firearms  were  willed  to  Col.  John  Worth- 
ington — "in  case  the  French  do  not  get  them,"  but  his 
body  had  not  been  plundered  by  the  enemy.  His  watch 
and  sword,  together  with  the  sword  of  Dr.  Thomas  Williams, 
descended  to  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Bishop 
John  Williams  of  Connecticut,  great-great-grandsons  of 
Dr.  Thomas  Williams  of  Old  Deerfield.  During  the  cen- 
tennial of  the  Battle  of  Lake  George,  September  8,  1855,  the 
relics  were  presented  to  Williams  College. z 

1  Perry's  Historical  Collection,  Clark  Hall. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George 


159 


The  rock  upon  which  Colonel  Williams  fell  remained  a 
shrine  where  patriotic  soldiers  continued  to  step  aside  from 
the  Old  Military  Road  and  cast  stones  until  long  after  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812.     The  Alumni  of  Williams  College 


Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  Sword  and  Watch  recovered  from  his  body  after 
his  fall  in  the  Early  Morning  Scout  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  George,  September  8, 

1755- 

Another  hand  thy  sword  shall  wield, 

Another  hand  thy  standard  wave, 
Till  from  the  trumpet's  mouth  is  pealed 
The  blast  of  triumph  o'er  thy  grave. 

Bryant,  The  Battle-Field. 


on  September  8,  1855,  erected  a  monument  on  this  tradi- 
tional rock. 

One  of  the  pioneer  settlers  on  the  shores  of  Lake  George, 
located  Colonel  Williams's  grave,  and,  during  1837,  Dr. 
W.  S.  Williams,  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Thomas  Williams  of 
North  Carolina,  recovered  his  granduncle's  skull,  containing 
the  fatal  ball  of  1755.  Edward  Weeks  Baldero  Channing, 
chairman  of  the  Alumni  Committee  of  Williams  College, 
later  marked  the  site  of  Colonel  Williams's  grave  with  a 


i6o 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Monument  marking  the  Rocky  Hill  near  where 
Col.  Ephraim  Williams  jell  in  the  Battle  of 
Lake  George,  September  8,  1755.  Monument 
erected  by  Alumni  of  Williams  College,  September 
8,  1855- 


huge  boulder,  upon 
which  are  chiselled 
his  initials,  "E.  W." 
In  1880  David  Dud- 
ley Field,  an  alumnus 
of  Williams  College, 
engaged  Arthur  La- 
tham Perry  to  pur- 
chase the  site  of 
Colonel  Williams's 
grave,  in  the  name  of 
the  President  and 
Trustees  of  Williams 
College,  after  which 
Robert  R.  Clark  of 
Williamstown  en- 
closed the  plot  with 
an  iron  fence. 

Historian  Perry 
wrote  thaj>  Colonel 
Williams's  fame  will 
outlast  that  of  the 
famous  General, 
Baron  D  i  e  s  k  a  u , 
since,  on  his  march  to 
the  battle-field  upon 
which  he  fell,  he 
11  turned  aside  to  do  a 
conscious  act  of  last- 
ing benefit  to  those 
then  unborn,"  and 
marched  forward  to 
seal  the  contract 
with  his  own  blood. 


The  Battle  of  Lake  George  161 

General  Dieskau  in  a  letter  to  M.  de  Vaudreuil  of  Can- 
ada, dated  at  the  English  Camp,  at  Lake  St.  Sacrament, 
September  15,  1755,  said  that  he  attributed  his  defeat  to  the 
"scurvey  treachery"  of  the  St.  Francois  or  Caughnawaga 
Indians  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  St.  Francis  or  Abnaquis 
warriors  of  the  St.  Francis  missions  under  the  Jesuits.  He  set 
sail  for  England  in  the  spring  of  1 757,  and  three  years  later  met 
Diderot  in  Paris.  He  died  in  1762.  In  Diderot's  Memoires, 
published  in  1830,  he  related  several  conversations  held  with 
Baron  Dieskau  relating  to  the  Battle  of  Lake  George.  The 
French  documents  also  record  the  battles  fought  by  Lieut.  - 
Colonel  Dieskau  under  Gen.  Marshall  Saxe  during  the  War 
of  Flanders  and  are  published  in  Elysian  Fields.1  Those 
records  also  describe  the  military  plans  of  Dieskau  in  the 
''Bloody  Morning  Scout"  at  Lake  George. 

Hotel  William  Henry  at  Lake  George,  erected  in  1885, 
stands  on  the  site  of  Fort  William  Henry,  built  during  the 
autumn  of  1755.  The  present  railroad,  constructed  in  1880, 
crosses  the  site  of  Johnson's  encampment. 

A  bronze  statue  of  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  the  hero  of 
Lake  George,  should  be  erected  on  the  conical  summit  of 
Mount  Williams, — the  northern  abutment  of  the  ramparts 
of  Greylock  Park  Reservation  of  Massachusetts,  in  memory 
of  the  New  Englander  who  laid  down  his  life  to  found  the 
Anglo-American's  freedom  of  Church  and  State. 

Distance  alone  proves  great  men  great. 
1  Doc.  Hist.,  N.  Y.,  X.,  pp.  34°-343- 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FORT    HOOSAC    PROPRIETY    AND    WILLIAMSTOWN 

i 749-181 5 

.     .     .     A  way  to  the  woodland  scene, 
Where  wanders  the  stream  with  waters  of  green, 
As  if  the  bright  fringe  of  herbs  on  its  brink 
Had  given  their  stain  to  the  waves  they  drink; 
And  they,  whose  meadows  it  murmurs  through, 
Have  named  the  stream  from  its  own  fair  hue. 

Bryant,  Green  River. 

Survey  1749 — Indian  Ambuscades — French  and  Indian  War,  1 754-1 763 — 
Fort  Hoosac,  1756 — Taverns — Mills — Schools — Congregational  and 
Baptist  Churches — The  Square — White  Oaks — Kreigger  Mills — South 
Village — First  Town-Meeting — Incorporation  of  Williamstown,  1765 — 
Militia — Revolutionary  War  until  the  War  of  18 12 — Burial-Fields. 

LITTLE  is  known  of  West  Hoosac  propriety  between  its 
*  survey  in  1749  and  the  completion  of  Fort  Hoosac 
near  The  Square  on  March  22,  1756.  It  became  the  frontier 
settlement  of  Massachusetts,  however,  during  the  French 
and  Indian  War  and  remained  so  until  the  incorporation  of 
Williamstown  in  1765. 

The  General  Court  on  April  18,  1749,  commissioned 
Colonels  Partridge,  Dwight,  and  Choate  and  the  surveyor, 
Nathaniel  Dwight,  to  "repair  to  the  Province  Lands  near 
Hoosuck"  and  survey  two  towns  six  miles  square,  incor- 
porated to-day  in  Williamstown,  Adams,  and  North  Adams. 
The  chairman,  Col.  Oliver  Partridge,  reported  November 
10th,  that  his  junketing  party  arrived  at  Fort  Massachusetts, 
October  27,  1749.  Surveyor  Dwight  first  measured  the  dis- 
tance from  the  fort  north  to  the  "White  Oak  Tree  marked 

162 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown     163 

M.  C.  I.  T.,"  on  Hazen's  Massachusetts  boundary,  twenty- 
four  miles  east  of  Hudson  River. 

The  northwest  corner  of  Williamstown  was  thus  estab- 
lished four  miles  west  of  Hazen's  marked  white  oak  tree, 
about  a  mile  east  of  the  summit  of  Mount  Belcher  of  the 
Taconac  Range  in  Moon  Hollow.  The  western  line  ex- 
tended southward  along  the  Taconacs  to  a  point  west  of 
Mount  Stratton;  thence  southeasterly  over  the  south  brow  of 
Stratton  to  a  point  southwest  of  the  tower  on  Mount  Grey- 
lock;  thence  northeasterly  eight  and  one-fourth  miles,  a 
few  rods  west  of  Greylock  tower  and  Mount  Fitch,  obliquely 
over  the  shoulder  of  Wilbur  Park  down  through  the  centre 
of  Blackington  Mills;  thence  half  way  up  Alberta's  Range, 
known  as  East  Mountain,  to  Hazen's  Line  on  Mount  Hazen; 
thence  westerly  to  the  marked  white  oak  tree.  These  lines 
enclosed  nearly  30,000  acres  of  lowland  and  mountain 
summits. 

Lieut.-Governor  Phipps  on  January  17,  1750,  commis- 
sioned James  Minot,  Col.  Samuel  Miller,  and  Capt.  Samuel 
Livermore  to  survey  sixty-three  house-lots  in  West  Hoosac 
village  plot,  not  to  exceed  twelve  acres  each.  Main  Street 
was  laid  out  fifteen  rods  wide  and  extended  from  the  site 
of  Green  River  Bridge  westward  one  and  a  third  mile  over 
four  eminences,  rising  a  hundred  feet  above  Hoosac  River 
to  Buxton  Brook.  The  Square,  located  on  the  third  hill,  is 
formed  by  the  junction  of  North  and  South  streets,  six 
rods  wide,  bisecting  Main  Street.  The  Plan  forms  a  per- 
fect Greek  Cross  and  the  four  hills  of  the  village  are  encircled 
by  Buxton  and  Hemlock  brooks,  and  Green  and  Hoosac 
rivers.  The  Plan  was  accepted  by  the  General  Court, 
April  6,  1750,  and  the  lots  advertised  for  sale  about 
Boston,  Hartford,  Litchfield,  and  Canaan  centres. 

Three  of  the  best  lots  facing  The  Square  were  reserved 
for  the  support  of  the  first  minister,  church,  and  school  and 


164 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


the  remaining  sixty  were  sold  for  £6  each,  drawn  by  chance. 
Each  buyer  was  entitled  to  one  sixty-third  part  of  the  whole 
town,  divided  later  by  eight  general  divisions.     According 


Original  Drawings  of  House-lots 


Hatfield,  Reuben  Belding  33 

Fort  Mass,  M'ch.  Harrington  31 

Unknown,  Nathl.  Russell  29 

Unknown,  George  Willis  27 

Unknown,  Lemuel  Avery  25 

New  London,  Ct.  Thos.  Moffat  23 

Unknown,  Elizur  Dickinson  21 

Fort  Mass,  John  Chamberlain  19 

Hatfield,  Moses  Graves  17 

New  London,  Ct.  Thos.  Moffat  15 

Fort  Mass,  Ezekiel  Foster  13 

Hatfield,  Joseph  Smith  11 

Fort  Mass,  Dr.  Seth  Hudson  9 

Stockbridge,  Josiah  Williams  7 

Fort  Mass,  Saml.Calhoon  5 

Hatfield,  Timo.Woodbridge  3 

Stockbridge,  Saml.  Brown  Jr.  1 


Buxton  Brook 


Fourth  Hill 


Hemlock  Brook 
Bridge 


Stone  Hill 


South  Street 
6  rods 
wide 


Third  Hill 

North  Street 
THE  SQUARE  6  roda 

wide 


34  John  Moffat,  Boston 

32  Elisha  Williams  Jr.  Weatherfield 

30  Thomas  Train,  Fort  Mass. 

28  Isaac  Wyman,  Fort  Mass. 

26  Josiah  Dean,  Canaan,  Ct. 

24  Wm.Chidester,  Fort  Mass. 

22  Benj.Simonds,  Fort  Mass. 

20  Aeneas  Mackey,  Unknown 

18  Joel  Dickenson,  Hatfield 

16  Josiah  Williams,  Stockbridge 

14  Abner  Roberts.  Fort  Mass. 

12  Saml.  Wells,  Hatfield 

10  Ephm.  Williams  Jr.  Fort  Mass. 

8   Ephm.  Williams  Jr.  Fort  Mass. 

6  Wm.Chidester,  Fort  Mass. 

4  Oliver  Partridge,  Hatfield 

2  Isaac  Wyman,  Fort  Mass. 


Johnson  Hill 


School 
Fort  Mass,  Saml.  Calhoon 
Stockbridge,  Saml.  Brown 
Fort  Mass,  Elisha  Chapin 
Unknown,  Elijah  Brown 
Hatfield,  Obadiah  Dickinson 
Northampton,  Joseph  Hawley 
Coleraine,  Dainel  Hawes 
Hatfield,  Elisha  Allis 
North  Reading,  Ebenr.  Graves 
Charlemont,  Olivur  Avery 
Green  River 


Coleraine 


Second  Hill 


First  Hill 


Main  Street 

15  rods 

wide 


Green  River 
Bridge 


36  Minsters 

38  Ministry 

40  Elisha  Hawley,  Northampton 

42  John  Bush,  Fort  Mass. 

44  Josiah  Dean,  Canaan,  Ct. 

46  John  Moffat,  Boston 

48  Moses  Graves,  Hatfield 

50  Samuel  Taylor,  Charlemont 

52  Saml.  Smith,  Coleraine 

54  Saml.  Brown,  Stockbridge 

56  Ebenr.  Graves,  North  Reading 

58  Saml.  Brown.  Stockbridge 

59  John  Crawford,  Worcester 

60  Aaron  Denio,  Coleraine 

61  Obadiah  Dickinson,  Hatfield 

62  Aeneas  Mackey,  Unknown        ^S* 

63  Danl  Donnillson,  Coleraine  ^<^^ 


to  the  regulations,  each  proprietor  was  required  to  build  a 
dwelling  eighteen  by  fifteen  feet  with  seven  foot  stud;  clear, 
plough,  and  sow  five  acres  of  his  house-lot  with  English 
grass  or  corn  within  two  years  after  purchase.  He  further 
agreed  to  aid  in  building  a  meeting-house  and  in  locating  a 
learned  orthodox  preacher  on  the  minister's  lot  within  five 
years,  and  gave  his  bond  for  £50  to  the  Province  treasurer 
for  the  fulfilment  of  his  duty. 


i65 


166  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Owing  to  the  Indian  ambuscades  and  the  approach  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  lots  sold  slowly.  At  the  opening 
of  1 75 1,  however,  the  General  Court  granted  Capt.  Ephraim 
Williams,  Jr.,  a  farm  in  East  Hoosac  about  Fort  Massachu- 
setts. He  built  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  on  the  site  of  North 
Adams  for  the  service  of  English  Hoosac  settlers,  and  in  order 
to  encourage  buyers,  drew  lots  eight  and  ten  in  West  Hoosac. 
Thirteen  of  his  garrison  soldiers  also  drew  one  lot  each, 
and  Col.  Israel  Williams  of  Hatfield  induced  eleven  of  his 
neighbors,  including  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge  and  Col. 
Oliver  Partridge,  to  draw  one  lot  each,  and  the  sale  of  sixty 
house-lots  to  forty-six  buyers  closed  in  September,  1752. 

Meanwhile  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  resigned  the  com- 
mand of  Fort  Massachusetts  and  sold  his  Fort  Farm  and 
mills  to  Capt.  Elisha  Chapin  and  Moses  Graves.  Six  of 
the  thirteen  original  settlers  of  West  Hoosac  included  Lieut. 
Isaac  Wyman  of  Fort  Massachusetts,  Dr.  Seth  Hudson, 
Gent.,  Benjamin  Simonds,  Thomas  Train,  Ezekiel  Foster, 
and  Ebenezer  Graves  who  built  their  regulation  houses  be- 
tween September,  1752  and  September,  1753.  Seven  others, 
including  Elisha  Higgins,  Silas  Pratt,  Allan  and  Elihu  Cur- 
tiss,  Gideon  Warren,  Darius  Mead,  and  Tyras  Pratt,  mean- 
while cleared  their  lots,  before  September  10,  1753.  On  that 
date  Governor  Shirley  directed  Col.  William  Williams,  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace  of  Pittsfield,  to  order  Lieutenant  Wyman 
of  Fort  Massachusetts  to  "Notifye  and  warne"  the  first 
meeting  of  West  Hoosac  proprietors  to  meet  at  Dr.  Seth  Hud- 
son's house,  Wednesday  forenoon,  December  5,  1753.  Capt. 
Allan  Curtiss  was  chosen  moderator;  Isaac  Wyman,  clerk 
and  treasurer;  Jonathan  Meacham,  Samuel  Taylor,  and 
Josiah  Dean,  surveyors  of  highways  and  the  first  division 
of  fifty-acre  meadow  lots.  Samuel  Taylor  later  owned  the 
mill-lot  at  Taylor's  Crotch,  near  the  junction  of  Hopper 
Brook  with  Green  River.     The  historic  Hudson  house  in 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    167 

which  the  first  proprietors  of  West  Hoosac  met,  still  stands 
half  a  mile  below  its  original  site  on  the  west  bank  of  Hem- 
lock Brook  in  Charityville.  Dr.  Hudson  founded  Pownal 
propriety  in  1760  and  practised  veterinary  surgery.  He 
died  in  a  house  on  the  site  of  the  John  M.  Cole  Mansion 
in  Williamstown. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held  at  Capt. 
Allan  Curtiss's  house,  Thursday  forenoon,  April  18,  1754. 
Captain  Curtiss  was  chosen  moderator ;  David  King,  surveyor 
and  path-master  of  the  meadow  lots  and  roads  of  first  divi- 
sion. Oliver  Avery  and  John  Crawford  were  appointed 
to  clear  a  burial-field  of  half  an  acre  located  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  lot  two  on  Johnson  Hill,  near  the  site  of  Jerome's 
Mansion.  Several  of  the  original  Massachusetts  buyers 
of  house-lots  sold  their  rights  to  Connecticut  men  upon  the 
approach  of  hostilities.  A  third  meeting  of  the  proprietors 
took  place  at  Captain  Curtiss's  house,  May  15,  1754,  at 
which  the  fifty -acre  meadow  lots  were  drawn,  and  Captain 
Curtiss  was  appointed  to  clear  North  Street  a  rod  wide  from 
The  Square  over  Johnson  Hill  to  Hampshire  Line.  This 
was  the  last  meeting  until  after  the  Fall  of  Quebec. 

Two  weeks  after  the  third  meeting  of  the  West  Hoosac 
proprietors,  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  formally 
announced  on  May  28th  by  a  party  of  French  and  Indians 
marching  through  Dutch  Hooesac.  A  party  of  St.  Francis 
warriors  followed  up  the  Green  River  trail  to  surprise  the 
Stockbridge  settlers.  Two  Fort  Massachusetts  scouts 
spied  the  Indians  as  far  as  Lanesboro.  While  in  the  act  of 
tying  their  moccasins  near  a  spring,  two  chieftains  were  slain 
by  the  scouts.  A  party  of  English  and  Dutch  set  out  later 
and  found  the  sachems  buried  in  full  war  costume,  and  re- 
covered their  valuable  scalps. 

Dutch  Hooesac  and  the  Kreigger  hamlets  between  Peters- 
burgh  Junction  and  Pownal  went  up  in  flames.     The  six 


1 68  The  Hoosac  Valley 

dwellings  of  the  English  at  West  Hoosac  and  the  mounted 
cannon  of  Fort  Massachusetts  were  not  molested.  On  August 
28,  1754,  the  final  massacre  of  Dutch  Hooesac  took  place 
and  every  vestige  of  settlement  was  burned. 

Ephraim  Williams  was  re-appointed  commander  of  the 
Massachusetts  border  forts  on  September  I,  1754,  and  Capt. 
Elisha  Chapin  and  Moses  Graves  abandoned  the  Fort  Farm 
and  mills  and  settled  on  their  West  Hoosac  house-lots. 
Lieut.  Isaac  Wyman  remained  in  command  of  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts until  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  death,  when  he  was 
appointed  captain  until  the  fort  was  abandoned  in  November, 
1761. 

Eleven  of  the  Connecticut  proprietors  of  West  Hoosac 
petitioned  the  General  Court,  October  17,  1754,  to  build  them 
a  stockade  fort  as  a  refuge  during  the  perils  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War.  Col.  Israel  Williams  directed  them, 
however,  to  move  their  families  to  Fort  Massachusetts  until 
the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1755,  although  they  continued 
to  clear  their  land  in  West  Hoosac.  On  January  18,  1756, 
William  Chidester  informed  Lieut.-Governor  Phipps  that 
his  and  five  other  Connecticut  families  were  the  only  settlers 
between  Fort  Massachusetts  and  Fort  Schaghticoke.  He 
made  it  evident  that  they  were  in  danger  of  being  murdered 
by  the  French  and  Indians.  Benjamin  Simonds,  Dr.  Seth 
Hudson,  Gent.,  Jabez  Warren,  Nehemiah  Smedley,  Josiah 
and  William  Horsford  aided  Chidester,  and  the  fort  was 
completed,  March  22,  1756,  twenty-eight  rods  west  of  the 
east  line  of  the  Kappa  Alpha  Society  House,  on  lot  six, 
adjoining  lot  four,  upon  which  Proctor's  Mansion  now  stands. 
Ten  soldiers  were  placed  in  command  under  Sergt.  Samuel 
Taylor,  until  succeeded  in  April  by  Sergeant  Chidester. 

The  fifteen  Massachusetts  proprietors  of  West  Hoosac, 
headed  by  Thomas  Train,  who  had  been  presented  with  Col. 
Oliver    Partridge's    lot    four,    petitioned   Lieut.-Governor 


hort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williams  town    169 

Phipps,  May  27,  1756,  to  build  a  commodious  blockhouse 
eighty  feet  square  on  The  Square.  They  agreed  to  donate 
£35  toward  its  construction,  and  suggested  that  it  be  named 
Fort  Phipps.1 

Meanwhile  part  of  the  walls  of  Fort  Massachusetts 
tumbled  down.  Although  repaired  by  Captain  Wyman,  it 
was  expected  that  the  blockhouse  would  have  to  be  rebuilt 
from  its  foundation,  or  that  a  commodious  fort  would  be 
constructed  in  West  Hoosac.  Sergeant  Chidester  and  his 
Connecticut  neighbors  of  West  Hoosac  also  petitioned  the 
General  Court  to  build  the  new  blockhouse  on  The  Square. 

Col.  Israel  Williams  and  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman,  however, 
fought  against  the  proposed  fort  at  West  Hoosac.  The 
latter  refused  to  part  with  any  of  his  cannon,  although  he 
had  no  use  for  them  in  the  unsettled  portion  of  Hoosac  Pass. 
As  a  result,  thirty  of  the  forty  soldiers  of  English  Hoosac 
remained  at  Fort  Massachusetts  as  did  all  the  artillery, 
including  three  4-pounder  cannon,  one  field-piece,  two  swivel 
guns,  and  two  cohorn  mortars. 

During  the  summer,  Indians  constantly  lurked  about 
Fort  Hoosac,  knowing  the  garrison  was  ill  equipped  with 
guns.  On  June  7th,  the  scouts — Benjamin  King  and  Wil- 
liam Meacham — were  killed  a  mile  west  of  Fort  Massachu- 
setts, near  the  John  Perry  cornfield.  General  Winslow  on 
June  15th  sent  Major  Thaxter  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
men  to  patrol  the  trail  from  Fort  Half-Moon  to  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts. On  June  26th,  Lieutenant  Grout  and  fourteen 
scouts,  while  near  Cohoha  cornfield,  opposite  Kreigger  Rocks, 
in  Pownal,  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  two  hundred  French 
and  Indians ;  eight  were  slain  and  five  made  prisoners — only 
one  Schaghticoke  scout  escaping  to  carry  the  news  to  Fort 
Massachusetts.  Captain  Wyman  sent  Ensign  Barnard  and 
two  scouts  to  bury  the  dead,  June  27th.     They,  however, 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  408. 


170  The  Hoosac  Valley 

located  an  ambuscade  of  warriors  by  the  crackling  of  sticks 
and  were  forced  to  depart.  Later,  on  July  5th,  Captain 
Butterfield  and  one  hundred  and  forty  men  from  Fort  Half- 
Moon  buried  the  dead. 

Fort  Hoosac  was  attacked,  July  nth,  by  about  one  hun- 
dred French  and  Indians  who  crept  up  Hemlock  Brook. 
They  lay  in  ambuscade  until  Sergeant  Chidester  and  his 
son,  James,  in  company  with  Capt.  Elisha  Chapin,  started 
out,  armed  with  their  guns,  to  milk  their  cows.  Both  the 
Chidesters  were  slain,  and  Captain  Chapin  was  mortally 
wounded  and  later  scalped.  During  the  twilight  the  savages 
surrounded  Fort  Hoosac,  but  were  repulsed.  They  then 
sought  the  pastures  and  slaughtered  the  settlers'  cows  and 
oxen.  Captain  Wyman  on  July  13th  sent  Ensign  Barnard 
and  thirteen  soldiers  over  to  West  Hoosac  to  bury  the  dead 
in  Johnson  Hill  cemetery.  Dr.  Seth  Hudson,  Gent.,  became 
Commander  of  Fort  Hoosac  and  twenty-one  of  the  pro- 
prietors on  January  II,  1757,  revolted  against  Captain 
Wyman's  niggardly  methods  of  doling  out  supplies. 

Lieut.-Governor  Phipps  in  May,  1757,  commissioned  Rev. 
Timothy  Woodbridge,  Samuel  Livermore,  and  Moses  Marcy 
to  visit  West  Hoosac  and  hear  the  complaints  of  the  pro- 
prietors. They  reported  in  June  that  Fort  Massachusetts 
was  from  the  first  poorly  located  for  frontier  defence  and  not 
worth  repairing.  Captain  Wyman,  after  a  trial,  was  par- 
doned for  his  conduct  toward  Sergeant  Chidester,  Captain 
Chapin,  and  Dr.  Seth  Hudson. 

The  first  proprietors'  meeting  after  the  Fall  of  Quebec  took 
place  at  Fort  Hoosac,  September  17,  1760.  William  Hors- 
ford  was  chosen  clerk  and  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman  resigned.  The 
latter  sold  his  house  and  lot  opposite  the  site  of  Hotel  Grey- 
lock  to  Benjamin  Kellogg  for  £140  and  at  once  removed 
from  Fort  Massachusetts  to  Keene,  N.  H.  Four  proprietor 
meetings  were  held  at  Fort  Hoosac,  however,  before  it  was 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    171 

abandoned  in  September  1761.  The  first  children  born 
in  West  Hoosac  were:  Rachel  Simonds  on  April  8,  1753; 
Elias  Taylor,  son  of  Sergt.  Samuel  Taylor,  on  June  27, 
1756;  and  William  Pratt,  son  of  Silas  Pratt,  in  January, 
1760. 

Berkshire  County  was  incorporated  in  1761  and  in  March, 
1762,  the  West  Hoosac  proprietors  met  at  Josiah  Horsford's 
house,  and  it  was  voted  to  repair  South  Street,  leading  from 
The  Square  over  Stone  Hill  to  New  Framingham,  now  Lanes- 
boro.  The  latter  town  was  first  known  as  Richfield  and  was 
settled  by  men  from  Framingham,  England,  in  1742.  In 
1765,  Gov.  Francis  Bernard,  incorporated  the  town,  Lanes- 
boro,  in  honor  of  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Lanesboro.  Tory 
Collins,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  was  the  first  minister 
of  the  town.  Later  several  Baptists  and  Quakers  settled  in 
both  Lanesboro  and  New  Ashford. 

Most  of  the  West  Hoosac  settlers  hailed  from  Colchester, 
Litchfield,  Canaan,  New  Milford,  New  Haven,  and  Hart- 
ford, Conn.  Four  districts  of  out-lots  were  thrown  open 
to  settlers  in  1760.  Benjamin  Simonds  ran  the  first  inn 
west  of  The  Square,  and  Stephen  Horsford  later  built  the 
Red  Tavern  and  store  east  of  The  Square.  Isaac  Stratton 
opened  the  first  inn  in  South  Village  and  this  was  owned 
later  by  the  blacksmith,  Samuel  Sloan.  Benjamin  Simonds 
about  1765  built  River  Bend  Tavern  a  mile  north  of  The 
Square  in  White  Oaks,  known  to-day  as  the  Charles  Prindle 
Place. 

The  pine  and  white  oak  lots,  drawn  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
divisions  of  the  township,  lay  north  of  Hoosac  River. 
Eight  pine  lots  were  located  in  the  north  angle  formed  by 
Broad  Brook  and  the  Hoosac.  The  white  oak  lay  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  town  on  Oak  Hill  at  the  base  of 
Mount  Hazen. 

The  first  grist-mill  and  saw-mill  were  built  in  1761  by 


172 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Titus  Harrison  from  Litchfield  on  the  Gideon  Warren  and 
Samuel  Payne  mill-lot  on  the  lower  falls  of  Green  River. 
The  gangway  was  located  on  "Pork  Lane,"  known  as 
Bingham  Street  to-day. 

During  July,  1763,  John  Smedley  was  granted  privilege 


The  River  Bend  Tavern  built  by  Benjamin  Simonds  on  north  bank  of  Hoosac 
River  in  White  Oaks  neighborhood  about  1765.  Simonds' s  Tavern  occupied 
the  site  of  the  Hoosacs'  and  Mohawks'  favorite  River  Bend  camp  along  the  an- 
cient war-trail  leading  through  a  pine  grove  in  the  region,  between  16 og  and 
1765- 

to  "Set  up  a  saw-mill"  at  the  junction  of  Broad  Brook 
with  the  Hoosac,  about  half  a  mile  north  of  River  Bend 
Tavern,  near  the  highway.  Smedley  purchased  pine 
lots  seven  and  eight,  and  parts  of  five  mixed  pine  and 
oak  lots.  The  cellar  hole  and  remnants  of  the  orchard 
may  still  be  seen  west  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad 
tracks — the  point  where  the  Hoosac  bends  northeast  to 
the  highway. 
The  third  mill-lot  at  "Taylor's  Crotch"  was  owned  by 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    173 

Sergt.  Samuel  Taylor  near  the  junction  of  Hopper  Brook 
with  Green  River,  two  miles  south  of  Harrison's  Mills. 
After  Sergeant  Taylor  moved  from  the  valley,  Asa  Douglass 
of  Hancock,  the  father-in-law  of  Samuel  Sloan,  purchased 
an  interest  in  his  mill-lot.  On  October  15,  1767,  the  pro- 
prietors voted  to  grant  William,  John,  and  Peter  Kreigger  of 
Kreigger  Rock  Mill  in  Pownal,  liberty  to  "Sett  up"  a  corn- 
mill  and  saw-mill  at  "Taylor's  Crotch"  before  August  1st 
of  the  following  year. 

The  first  log  schoolhouse  was  built  on  the  site  of  Hotel 
Greylock,  facing  The  Square,  in  1763,  and  it  was  also  used 
as  a  meeting-house  and  town  hall  until  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  was  built  on  the  site  of  Field's  Park  five  years 
later.  Among  the  original  homesteads  still  standing  in  the 
town  may  be  mentioned  the  house  of  the  German,  Jacob 
Meack,  the  first  doctor  of  the  village,  near  Hemlock  Brook 
Bridge.  Deacon  Richard  Stratton,  a  member  of  the  "War- 
ren Baptist  Society, "  built  the  first  two-story  framed  house, 
known  as  the  Col.  William  Waterman  homestead,  on  lot 
fifty-eight.  Daniel  Day  from  Litchfield  built  his  mansion, 
now  converted  into  the  Greek  Letter  Society  House,  on  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Southwick  streets,  known  also  as  the 
Dewey  homestead.  The  five  Smedley  and  four  Horsford 
brothers  from  Litchfield  also  built  several  mansions  between 
The  Square  and  Capt.  Nehemiah  Smedley's  Green  River 
homestead  at  foot  of  Main  Street.  Samuel  Kellogg  from 
Canaan  Centre  first  settled  on  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman's  lot, 
opposite  Hotel  Greylock  on  The  Square,  and  later  located 
on  the  poplar  tree  farm,  east  of  Captain  Smedley's  Green 
River  homestead.  Samuel  Kellogg  was  a  son  of  Benjamin 
Kellogg,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Joseph  Kellogg  of  Old 
Hadley,  who  in  1660  concealed  the  English  regicides. 
Elisha  Baker  from  Woodbury,  Conn.,  a  maternal  uncle 
of   Remember  Baker  and  Ethan  Allen,  settled  on  a  farm 


174  The  Hoosac  Valley 

east  of  Samuel  Kellogg's  farm  near  Baker  Bridge.  Isaac 
Stratton,  son  of  Richard  Stratton,  was  the  first  settler 
in  the  South  Village  at  the  base  of  Mount  Stratton,  and 
was  followed  by  Daniel  Burbank  and  the  blacksmith, 
Samuel  Sloan. 

At  a  proprietors'  meeting  held  May  21,  1765,  Benjamin 
Simonds  was  appointed  to  get  a  copy  of  Ephraim  Williams's 
Will,  and  Samuel  Kellogg  to  engage  the  first  minister.  The 
first  town-meeting  was  held  July  15,  1765,  and  West  Hoosac 
was  incorporated  as  Williamstown,  in  compliance  with 
Ephraim  Williams's  Will.  '  At  that  time  twenty-eight  home- 
steaders occupied  village  house-lots  and  twenty-six  others 
resided  on  out-lots.  About  five  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
acres  of  land  had  been  cleared  and  the  proprietors'  stock 
included  fifty-seven  yoke  of  oxen,  eighty-three  sheep,  and 
twenty  cows.  The  fifty-four  original  founders  of  Williams- 
town  included  the  following  names: 

VILLAGE    LOTS 

Nehemiah  Smedley  Benjamin  Simonds 

Mrs.  David  Roberts  Richard  Stratton 

Benjamin  Cowles  Ephraim  Seelye 

Josiah  Horsford  Samuel  Payne 

Thomas  Dunton  Samuel  Kellogg 

William  Horsford  Asa  Johnson 

Elisha  Higgins  William  Wells 

Eli  Cowles  Samuel  Smedley 

John  Smedley  Jonathan  Kilborn 

Titus  Harrison  Daniel  Stratton 

Jonathan  Meacham  Jedidiah  Smedley 

Ichabod  Southwick  Isaac  Wyman 

Derick  Webb  Stephen  Davis 

Elkanah  Parris  Ebenezer  Stratton 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  479-483. 


175 


176  The  Hoosac  Valley 

OUT-LOTS 

James  Meacham  Dr.  Seth  Hudson 

John  Newbre  Bartholomew  Woodcock 

Samuel  Taylor  Jesse  Southwick 

Isaac  Searle  John  Horsford 

Samuel  Clarke  Joseph  Ballard 

Josiah  Wright  Samuel  Sloan 

Robert  McMaster  Isaac  Stratton 

James  Kellogg  Moses  Rich 

Gideon  Warren  John  McMaster 

Joseph  Tallmadge  David  Johnson 

Nathan  Wheeler  Thomas  Roe 

Daniel  Burbank  Thomas  Train 

Elisha  Baker  Ebenezer  Cooley 

Eight  months  later,  on  March  17,  1766,  it  was  voted  to 
raise  £3  on  each  of  the  original  sixty  house-lots  to  aid  in 
building  a  meeting-house;  and  Nehemiah  Smedley,  Samuel 
Sandford,  and  Richard  Stratton  were  directed  to  build  on 
The  Square  the  First  Church  of  Christ.  It  was  to  be  with- 
out a  belfry,  and  its  dimensions  were  to  be  thirty  by  forty 
feet.  The  door  faced  east  and  the  building  was  dimly  lighted 
by  small  windows.  No  chimney  was  built,  and  each  family 
took  their  foot  stoves  to  keep  warm  during  the  winter  ser- 
vices. The  main  aisle  led  west  from  the  door  to  the  pulpit 
and  the  pews  faced  the  aisle.  A  more  commodious  church 
with  a  steeple  was  built  in  1798. 

The  first  minister,  the  Rev.  Whitman  Welch, ■  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Yale  in  the  year  1762.  He  arrived  at  Williamstown 
in  1765  and  soon  after  married  Deacon  Gay  lord's  daughter, 
Marvin,  of  New  Milford,  Conn.  He  was  a  short,  blond  man, 
sociable  and  highly  patriotic.  He  advocated  the  Armin- 
ian  System  taught  by  Rev.  Naphtalia  Daggett,  Professor  of 

1  Prof.  Ebenezer  Kellogg,  Field's  History  of  Berkshire  County,  182Q. 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    177 


Divinity  at  Yale,  1755-1 777,  and  delivered  his  written  ser- 
mons in  an  orthodox  manner.     During  1792,  Deacon  Rich- 
ard Stratton,  Matthew  Dunning,  Isaac  Holmes,  and  fourteen 
other    members    of 
the   "Warren    Soci- 
ety"   also    founded 
the     First     Baptist 
Chapel  and  built  it 
of  quartzite  stone  at 
Kreigger  Mills,  now 
known    as    Sweet's 
Corners. 

All  the  main  roads 
from  Deerfield, 
Pittsfield,  and  New 
Lebanon  converge 
in  one  road  at  the 
Vermont  State 
Line.  Several  his- 
toric inns  were  cen- 
t  ere  d  between 
Benjamin  Simonds's 
I^iver  Bend  Tavern 
of  Williamstown 
and  Charles 
Wright's  Tavern,  in 
Pownal.  Simonds's  Inn  still  stands  in  excellent  preser- 
vation north  of  Moody  Bridge  on  the  bank  of  Hoosac; 
Silas  Stone's  White  Oaks  Tavern  near  Broad  Brook 
Bridge,  originally  surrounded  by  white  oak  trees,  is  still 
standing  in  a  deplorable  condition  as  a  tenement,  known 
as  Stone  Tavern.  John  Smedley's  Sand  Spring  Inn 
was  replaced  by  Greylock  Hall  on  the  present  site  of 
Dr.  S.  Louis  Lloyd's  Sand  Spring  Sanitarium;  frequenters  of 


The  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Christ 
built  on  The  Square  in  Williamstown,  Massachu- 
setts, in  17Q8.  It  occupied  the  site  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  completed  in  1768,  now  the 
site  of  Field's  Park  at  the  junction  of  North  and 
South  Streets  with  Main  Street. 


i78 


The  Hoosac  Valley- 


Esquire  Ware's  State  Line  Tavern  still  take  their  refresh- 
ments either  in  Pownal  or  Williamstown.  Jonathan Bridges's 
and  Capt.  Nehemiah  Smedley's  large  farmhouses  served 
as  public  inns.    The  huge  stone  ovens  in  Col.  Benjamin 


Smedley's  Green  River  Mansion,  built  by  Capt.  Nehemiah  Smedley  be- 
tween 1770  and  1777.  The  Cellar  Kitchen  Door  on  the  south  side  of  the  house 
leads  to  the  Great  Stone  Oven  where  many  loaves  of  bread  were  baked  for  the 
soldiers  who  aided  in  taking  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  winning  the  victory  of  Ben- 
nington between  1775  and  1777.  Smedley  Mansion  is  known  as  the  Benjamin 
Bridges  Place  to-day. 


Simonds's  River  Bend  and  Capt.  Nehemiah  Smedley's  man- 
sions baked  many  a  tempting  portion  of  rye  and  Indian  bread 
and  beans  for  the  Revolutionary  soldiers.  Ephraim  Seelye's 
homestead  stood  north  of  River  Bend  Tavern,  and  the 
original  regulation  house  of  Robert  Hawkins  still  stands  op- 
posite the  site,  on  the  corner  of  Simonds  and  Hoosac  roads. 
On  the  sites  of  Simonds's  and  Horsford's  inns  on  The 
Square  were  later  located  Skinner's  Mansion  House  and  the 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    179 

Taconac  Inn,  both  of  which  burned  a  few  years  ago.  Man- 
sion House  is  now  replaced  by  Hotel  Greylock.  Samuel 
Sloan's  Tavern  in  South  Village  is  now  replaced  by  Idle  Wild 
on  the  site  of  Prof.  R.  F.  Mills's  School  for  Boys.  Esquire 
Ware's  Tavern  on  Vermont  State  Line  has  always  been  a 
famous  resort  for  clandestine  marriages  of  Berkshire  and 
Bennington  couples.  One  "Great  Room"  is  located  north 
of  the  Line  in  Vermont  and  another  south  of  the  Line 
in  Massachusetts.  Here  the  matrimonial  knot  has  been 
legalized,  if  not  solemnized,  for  many  fugitive  lovers. 

Four  cider-brandy  stills  were  built  in  West  Hoosac  by 
men  of  character,  soon  after  the  corn-mills,  and  these  brought 
desolation  among  many  families  in  the  valley.  Total 
abstinence  was  agitated  between  1820  and  1830,  and  pro- 
hibition laws  are  still  in  force  at  the  State  Line  House. 

All  the  White  Oaks  homesteaders  reared  large  families. 
John  Smedley,  the  miller,  raised  eight  girls,  to  offset  the 
large  families  of  Simonds,  Bridges,  Seelyes,  Danforths,  and 
Sweets.  The  children  all  attended  the  district  school  on  the 
site  of  the  stone  schoolhouse  built  in  1838,  which  is  now 
used  as  a  blacksmith's  shop.  The  first  store  of  White  Oaks 
still  stands  north  of  the  Ripley  Cole  homestead  and  is  used 
as  a  tenement  house,  and  through  the  stony  pastures  of 
River  Bend  Farm  may  still  be  traced  the  Hoosacs'  war-trail. 

After  the  news  of  the  Battle  of  Lexington  reached  English 
Hoosac,  Capt.  Samuel  Sloan  of  South  Williamstown  rallied 
a  company  of  "  Minute  Men."  He  was  joined  by  Parson 
Whitman  Welch  and  his  parishioners  of  the  First  Church,  who 
fought  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  on  June  17th.  Parson 
Welch  sold  his  Green  River  meadow  lot  on  May  4th  to 
Nehemiah  Smedley  for  £70.  After  Captain  Sloan's  com- 
pany of  "Musket  Men"1  was  formed  from  the  Hoosac 
Minute   Men  during  September,  1775,  Parson  Welch  was 

1  See  note  14,  at  end  of  volume. 


180  The  Hoosac  Valley 

among  the  non-enrolled  volunteers  who  marched  with  Gen. 
Benedict  Arnold's  army  through  the  Maine  Woods  to  sur- 
prise the  British.  He  was  among  those  who  died  from  small- 
pox during  March,  1776,  near  Quebec.  His  wife  and  three 
children  returned  to  Connecticut  later  and  left  their 
Williamstown  garden  overgrown  with  Colchester  roses.1 

Landlord  Benjamin  Simonds  was  commissioned  Colonel 
of  the  Berkshire  County  militia,  August  30,  1775.  During 
April,  1777,  the  County  was  divided  into  the  North  and  South 
military  districts,  and  Col.  John  Patterson  of  Lenox  com- 
manded the  South  and  Col.  Benjamin  Simonds  the  North 
regiments. 

It  was  during  August,  1776,  that  Captain  Eddy's  company 
of  thirty  nine  ship-carpenters  from  Providence,  R.  L,  on  their 
march  to  Skenesboro  Navy  Yard,  on  Lake  Champlain,  were 
exposed  to  small-pox  and  quarantined  in  the  John  Smedley 
mill-house  at  Williamstown.  Dr.  William  Page  inoculated 
them,  and  Isaac  Stratton,  clerk  of  the  Council  of  Safety, 
together  with  Samuel  Kellogg,  William  Horsford,  Daniel 
Stratton,  and  David  Noble  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  men 
until  they  were  discharged.  The  Smedley  mill-house  was 
known  as  the  "Pest-house"  until  torn  down  about  1843. 

After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Whitman  Welch,  Parson 
Noble  preached  at  the  First  Church  of  Williamstown  until 
the  Rev.  Seth  Swift  from  Kent,  Conn.,  a  Yale  graduate  of 
1774,  was  installed  in  May,  1779.  The  records  at  that  time 
contained  the  following  members'  names2: 

Elisha  Baker  Mary  Marks  Burbank 

Phoebe  Nichols  Baker  Samuel  Burchard 

Martha  Young  Blair  Elizabeth  Hamilton  Burchard 

Daniel  Burbank  Sarah  Luce  Byam 

1  Bliss  Perry,  "The  Colchester  Rose,"  Youth's  Companion,  March  31, 
1889. 

a  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  148-149. 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    181 


Hannah  Davis 
Sampson  Howe 
Hannah  Foot  Howe 
Daniel  Horsford 
David  Johnson 
Phoebe  Cole  Johnson 
Henry  Johnson 
Abiah  Johnson 
Persis  Johnson 
Isaac  Ovits 
Moses  Rich 
Thomas  Roe 
Mary  Wells  Roe 
Catherine  Davis  Smith 
Deborah  Spencer 
Isaac  Stratton 
|Mary  Fox  Stratton 
Ruth  Tyrrel  Torrey 
Hannah  Wheeler  Torrey 
Hannah  Torrey  Hatfield 
Elizabeth  Lewis  Williams 
Dea.  Nathan  Wheeler 
Sarah  Wheeler 
Nathan  Wheeler,  Jr. 
Gideon  Wright 
Elizabeth  Downs  Downing 
Thomas  Dunton 
Mary  Davis  Dunton 
Elizabeth  Egleston 


Nathan  Foot 

Marianne  Foot 

Israel  Harris 

Sarah  Morse  Harris 

Rachel  Baldwin  Hawkins 

Samuel  Kellogg 

Chloe  Bacon  Kellogg 

Dea.  James  Meacham 

Lucy  Rugg  Meacham 

Jonathan  Meacham 

Thankful  Rugg  Meacham 

David  Noble 

Abigail  Bennett  Noble 

Esther  Wilson  Ovits 

Mary  Roberts 

Anna  Dwight  Sabin 

Nathaniel  Sanford 

David  Southwick 

Thankful  Davis  Southwick 

Mary  Dormer  Stratton 

Martha  Marks  Tallmadge 

Marvin  Gaylord  Welch 

William  Wells 

Rebecca  Stoddard  Wells 

Mary  Wilson 

Nathan  Bristar  Woodcock 

Josiah  Wright 

Abigail  Wright 

Sarah  Wright 


Col.  Benjamin  Simonds  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life, 
between  1797  and  1807,  resided  with  his  second  wife,  widow 
of  Asa  Putnam  of  Brattleboro,  Vt.,  in  the  Robert  Hawkins 
house,  opposite  his  River  Bend  Tavern.  It  was  his  custom 
to  sit  in  an  arm-chair  by  his  front  door,  clad  in  regimental 
coat,    knickerbocker    trousers,   frilled    shirt    bosom,   white 


1 82 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


neckerchief,  and  continental  hat,  and  chat  with  migrating 
pilgrims.     He  made  his  will  in  1803  and  left  his  two  volumes 

of  Brown's  Bible 
to  his  grand- 
daughter, Sally 
Trai  n-  B  lair, 
daughter  of  Ra- 
chel Simonds  and 
Thomas  Train 
and  subsequently 
the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Blair.  The 
Bible  descended 
to  Deacon  Henry 
Blair,  and  in  turn 
to  his  son,  Austin 
Blair,  now  resid- 
ing in  Salem, 
N.Y.  The  artist, 
W.  Jennys,  in 
1796  painted  the 
portraits  of  Col- 
onel Simonds  and 
his  second  wife, 
and  they  were 
willed  to  his 
daughter,  Polly 
Simonds-Putnam,  wife  of  his  stepson,  Perley  Putnam.  After 
being  passed  among  other  members  of  the  family,  the 
Colonel's  portrait  came  into  the  possession  of  Grace  Perry  of 
Williamstown,  Mass.,  a  great-granddaughter  of  Prudence 
Simonds-Bridges.  The  historic  portrait  will  undoubtedly 
descend  to  Grace  Perry,  eldest  daughter  of  Bliss  Perry,  who 
is  a   great-great-great -granddaughter  of  Colonel  Simonds. 


Col.  Benjamin  Simonds,  Commander  of  the  Berk- 
shire Boys  between  1775  and  1777.  He  figured  in 
the  Council  of  War  held  by  General  John  Stark  at 
the  Catamount  Tavern,  August  13,  1777,  before  the 
Battle  of  Bennington. 


Fort  Hoosac  Propriety  and  Williamstown    183 

Among  the  patriotic  epitaphs  in  the  Old  Hemlock  Ceme- 
tery of  Williamstown  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Elisha 
Baker,  uncle  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  Remember 
Baker  and  Ethan  Allen.  He  died  May  22,  1797.  Col. 
Benjamin  Simonds's  monument  bears  the  simple  record  to 
his  memory  as  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Williamstown,  and 
a  firm  supporter  of  his  "Country's  Independence."  He 
was  born  February  23,  1726,  and  died  April  II,  1807. 

A  monument  to  Col.  Benjamin  Simonds  should  be  erected 
on  The  Square  in  Williamstown.  He  was  the  only  surviving 
English  captive  who,  taken  from  Fort  Massachusetts  to 
Canada  by  General  Rigaud  in  1746,  returned  and  settled  in 
English  Hoosac.  He  aided  in  building  Fort  Hoosac  in  1756 
and  served  as  garrison  soldier  and  member  of  the  Council 
of  Public  Safety  until  the  Fort  was  abandoned  in  1761. 
He  was  commissioned  Colonel  of  Berkshire  militia  during 
the  Revolution  in  1775  and  led  in  the  fatal  Battle  of  White 
Plains,  October  28,  1776.  During  the  winter  of  1777  he  took 
command  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.  On  August  13,  1777,  he 
met  with  Gen.  John  Stark  and  Col.  Seth  Warner  in  the 
council  of  war  at  the  " Catamount  Tavern"  before  the 
Battle  of  Bennington. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  of  Litchfield  County  wrote  that: 
"From  Salisbury  to  Williamstown  and  thence  to  Bennington 
there  stretches  a  country  of  valleys  and  lakes  and  mountains, 
that  is  to  be  as  celebrated  as  the  lake  district  of  England  or 
the  hill  country  of  Palestine." 


CHAPTER  IX 

EAST   HOOSAC  PLANTATION  AND  ADAMS 
I749-I8I5 

Safe  from  the  Morning's  golden  eye 
And  sheltered  from  the  Western  breeze. 
These  happy  regions  bosomed  lie — 

Hemmed  in  with  hills  whose  heads  aspire, 
Abrupt  and  rude,  and  hung  with  woods; 

Where  devious  Hoosac  rolls  his  floods. 

Bryant,  Descriptio  Gulielmopolis. T 

Survey  1 749  —  Proprietors  —  Mills  —  Taverns  —  Congregational  Church — 
Militia — Town-Meeting — Adams  and  North  Adams — Baptist,  Quaker, 
and  Methodist  Churches — Schools — Burial-Fields — Fort  Massachusetts 
Meadow — Perry  Elm. 

THE  New  England  soldiers  who  marched  down  the  Hoosac 
Pass  caught  only  faint  glimpses  of  tasselled  cornfields 
along  the  banks  of  the  upper  Hoosac,  between  the  second 
survey  of  "East  Hoosuck  Plantation"  in  October,  1749,  and 
the  settlement  of  the  propriety  thirteen  years  later. 

The  Ashawagh  meadows  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac 
contain  a  buried  forest.  Hemlock  logs  have  been  unearthed 
about  Kingsley  Place  near  the  Cross  Road,  and  several 
original  pines  were  felled  on  the  site  of  "Slab  City,"  now 
North  Adams,  which  measured  from  100  to  114  feet  to  the 
first  limb. 

The  valley  of  the  Mayoonsac  and  the  Ashawaghsac, 2  the 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  340-341. 
3  See  note  1 ,  at  end  of  volume. 

184 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       185 

north  and  the  south  branches  of  the  upper  Hoosac,  is  closed 
off  from  the  eastern  part  of  Massachusetts  by  the  "For- 


fjbfe££$g* 


mr, 


North  Adams  in  1840  during  the  Stage-Coach  Days,  before  the  building  of 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railway  through  Hoosac  Mountain.  The  view  shows  the 
Ashawaghsac  River  Bridge  with  Colgrove's  and  Brown's  Grist-Mill  on  the  east 
and  the  Saw-Mill  on  the  west  bank  of  the  stream.  The  Waterman-Wilbur  Tavern, 
now  Richmond  House,  together  with  the  Block  or  Black  Tavern,  is  located  on  the 
right  side  of  Main  Street,  and  the  North  Adams  House  and  Bissell  Building  are 
located  on  the  opposite  side  of  Main  Street.  In  the  distance  is  observed  the  Sec- 
ond Baptist  Church  on  the  corner  of  Eagle  and  Main  Streets,  and  opposite  is  ob- 
served the  Second  Congregational  Church.  The  Stage-Coaches  drawn  by  four  horses 
from  Greenfield  and  Bennington  are  both  arriving  at  the  North  Adams  House 
where  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  sojourned  some  time  during  the  summer  of  1838. 

bidden  Hoosac  Mountain  "  and  from  the  Green  River  Valley  of 
Williamstown  on  the  west  by  Mount  Grey  lock,  which  range 
is  over  six  miles  east  and  west  in  extent.  Berkshire  County 
is  fourteen  miles  in  width  on  the  north,  and  Greylock  Range 
is  broken  only  by  the  Hoosac  Pass  through  North  Adams 
and  by  the  Green  River  Pass  through  Williamstown. 


186  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  General  Court,  in  1745,  granted  Samuel  Rice  a  farm 
of  two  hundred  acres,  for  building  a  road  from  Capt.  Moses 
Rice's  Charlemont  Inn,  over  the  Hoosac  Mountain  to  the 
Ashawaghsac  ford,  on  the  site  of  North  Adams.  Rude  wood 
roads  at  that  time  led  south  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of 
Ashawagh  Swamp  to  Lake  Pontoosac  and  Stockbridge. 
The  Raven  Rock  Road  through  The  Notch,  owing  to  the 
muddy  trail  of  the  Ashawagh  Meadows,  remained  the  main 
travelled  highway  long  after  the  opening  of  the  19th  century. 

As  early  as  1751,  Capt.  Ephraim  Williams,  Jr.,  of  Fort 
Massachusetts  engaged  Jedidiah  Hurd  to  build  a  saw-mill 
on  the  west,  and  a  grist-mill  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Asha- 
waghsac, and  a  trestle  bridge  with  a  log-railing  over  the 
stream.  The  logs  of  the  Ashawaghsac  ford  and  the  mill- 
dam  timbers  were  unearthed  at  the  time  the  abutments  of 
the  present  iron  bridge  were  built  in  North  Adams.  Tradi- 
tion records  that  another  saw-mill  was  built  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Mayoonsac  above  its  junction  with  the  Asha- 
waghsac in  1756.  The  Schaghticokes  challenged  the  head- 
waters of  the  Hoosac  hunting-grounds,  and  lurked  in 
ambuscade  on  the  sand  knolls  opposite  the  Mayoonsac  Mill 
and  shot  the  sawyer  at  his  post. 

After  the  sandy  hillsides  of  East  Hoosac  were  cleared, 
the  soil  proved  too  dry  to  raise  beans  and  the  lowlands  were 
too  wet  to  raise  English  grass  and  corn.  The  excellent  mill- 
power  was  considered  valuable  by  the  "River  Gods"  of  the 
Connecticut,  and  during  October,  1749,  Col.  Oliver  Partridge 
and  surveyor  Nathaniel  Dwight  rode  from  Hatfield  over 
the  Hoosac  Mountain,  and  completed  the  second  survey 
of  East  Hoosac  and  West  Hoosac. 

The  south  line  of  East  Hoosac — now  Adams — began  at  a 
marked  hemlock  tree  on  the  bank  of  the  Ashawaghsac — 
now  in  Cheshire — and  ran  east  to  a  point  on  Hoosac  Moun- 
tain ;  thence  north  seven  miles  up  the  Mayoonsac  Valley  below 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       187 

Hazen's  Line  of  Massachusetts;  thence  westerly  five  miles 
to  West  Hoosac,  now  Williamstown,  at  a  point  north  of 
Blackington  Mills;  thence  southward  over  the  west  brow  of 
Mount  Greylock  and  eastward  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
Chairman  Partridge  on  November  10,  1749,  reported  to  the 
General  Court  that  he  considered  four  miles  of  the  East 
Hoosac  interval  "rich  and  good  land." 

On  February  16, 1762,  the  General  Court  voted  that  "East 
Hoosuck,"  known  as  Town  No.  I,  should  be  sold  at  public 
auction  to  the  highest  bidders,  the  set-up  price  to  begin  at 
£800.  The  sale  took  place  at  the  Royal  Exchange  Tavern, 
King  Street,  Boston,  on  June  2d  following,  and  was  struck 
off  by  prearrangement  to  Nathan  Jones  of  Weston,  Col. 
Elisha  Jones,  Sr.,  Col.  James  Otis,  and  Col.  John  Murray 
for  £3200,  four  times  the  set-up  price. 

The  first  taverns  of  the  proprietors  were  located  near  Fort 
Massachusetts,  at  Five  Points,  on  the  Hoosac  Mountain 
Road,  and  the  Raven  Rock  Road  through  The  Notch.  Charles 
Wright,  a  soldier  from  Northfield,  in  Col.  Israel  Williams's 
regiment  that  reinforced  General  Wolfe's  army  at  Quebec 
in  1759,  obtained  a  tavern  license.  He  built  the  Fort  Tavern 
east  »of  St.  Francis  Ledge,  after  Fort  Massachusetts  was 
abandoned  and  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman  had  moved  to  Keene, 
N.  H.,  in  November  1761.  About  1762,  Landlord  Wright 
moved  his  wife,  Ruth  Boltwood-Wright,  and  their  two  sons, 
Samuel  and  Josiah,  from  Amherst.  His  third  son,  Solomon, 
was  born  in  the  Fort  barracks,  December  28,  1763.  The 
next  spring  Wright  moved  his  family  to  his  Pownal  inn,  ten 
miles  down  the  Hoosac,  where  he  became  a  large  land-owner. 

A  number  of  settlers  located  on  Raven  Rock  Road,  over  the 
Ragged  Mountains.  The  blacksmith,  Joseph  Darby,  estab- 
lished a  shop  two  rods  below  Notch  Brook  Bridge,  near  the 
Cady  and  Knight  homesteads;  and  the  Wilbur,  Arnold, 
Eddy,  and  Carpenter  families  settled  in  the  upper  Notch. 


1 88  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Jeremiah  Wilbur  ran  a  tavern  at  the  extreme  portion  of  the 
Vale.  He  owned  1600  acres  including  Wilbur  Park  and  the 
summit  of  Mount  Greylock.  His  farm  in  1829  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  finest  in  Northern  Berkshire.  He  then 
owned  a  dairy  of  forty  cows  and  five  hundred  Saxony  or 
Merino  sheep. 

The  Wilbur,  Eddy,  Carpenter,  Arnold,  and  Niles  families 
of  Adams,  Pownal,  and  White  Creek  hailed  from  Rhode 
Island,  and  were  all  related  by  marriage.  John,  William, 
and  Benedict  Arnold  of  Adams  and  Pownal  were  lineal 
descendants  of  William  Arnold  of  Leamington,  Warwick- 
shire, England,  who  settled  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1630,  and 
later  joined  Roger  Williams's  Colony  of  Quakers  in  Provi- 
dence. His  son,  Benedict  Arnold,  was  the  first  Governor 
of  Rhode  Island.  He  owned  the  subsequently  famous  New- 
port Tower,  said  to  be  modelled  after  an  old  windmill  of 
Leamington,  England.  He  was  the  father  of  General  Bene- 
dict Arnold  of  Revolutionary  ill-fame. 

Forty-eight  settling-lots,  containing  one  hundred  acres 
each,  were  surveyed  in  East  Hoosac  and  offered  for  sale 
during  October,  1 762.  Each  purchaser  of  a  lot  gave  his  bond 
for  £20  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Province  and  agreed  to  pay  a 
share  of  the  expense  of  building  roads  and  bridges.  He  was 
required  to  erect  a  regulation  house,  to  clear,  plough,  and 
sow  six  acres  with  corn  or  English  grass  within  five  years,  and 
to  aid  in  building  a  meeting-house  and  settle  a  "  learned 
orthodox  Minister." 

Col.  Elisha  Jones,  Sr.,  of  Weston,  one  of  the  four  original 
proprietors  of  "East  Hoosac  Plantation,"  was  the  father  of 
fourteen  sons.  He  became  interested  in  Old  Berkshire  real 
estate.  Col.  William  Williams,  founder  of  Pittsfield,  was 
a  son  of  the  Weston  minister  and  a  nephew  of  Col.  John 
Stoddard,  one  of  the  three  original  proprietors  of  Pittsfield. 
In  1748,  Colonel  Stoddard  presented  young  Williams  with 


Raven  Rock  Road  through  the  Notch  Valley  during  winter. 
189 


190  The  Hoosac  Valley 

a  hundred-acre  lot  on  The  Square.  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  Sr.,  also 
bought  a  thousand  acres  in  Pittsfield  in  1751,  and  in  1762 
became  one  of  the  four  proprietors  of  East  Hoosac. 

Lots  sold  slowly  in  the  latter  town,  and  during  1766 
Israel  Jones,  fourth  son  of  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  Sr.,  then  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  was  authorized  to  survey  twenty  extra 
settling-lots,  dispose  of  sixty  settling-lots,  and  locate  a 
minister  before  1767. 

The  first  proprietors  to  break  sod  and  build  their  regu- 
lation houses  in  North  Adams  were:  Abiel  Smith  and  his 
two  sons,  Gideon  and  Jacob;  Justus  Blakeley,  Jedidiah  Hurd, 
John  Kilburn,  John  McNeal,  Jonathan  Smith,  Reuben 
Hinman,  Oliver  Parker,  Sr.,  and  his  son,  Andrew  Parker, 
Samuel  Leavenworth,  Asaph  Cook,  the  Kingsleys,  Israel 
Jones,  and  Rev.  Samuel  Todd. 

A  log  meeting-house  was  built  in  1766,  opposite  the  Cross 
Road  between  the  present  Albany  Railroad  and  the  Street 
Railway,  east  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  Park  gate.  The  minis- 
ter's lot  48  contained  one  hundred  acres  and  covered  por- 
tions of  the  present  Hodge  and  Ballou  farms.  The  Ballou 
dwelling  is  one  of  the  oldest  houses  standing  in  the  North 
Adams  intervale,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  Minister 
Todd's  regulation  house. 

Parson  Todd  was,  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  East  Hoosac, 
a  gentleman  of  forty-seven  years.  He  was  graduated  from 
Yale  in  1734,  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  He  located  at  Woodbury, 
Ct.,  five  years  later,  and  adopted  the  "New  Light  System" 
of  Whitfield.  About  the  first  meeting-house  in  Adams 
Valley  were  enacted  many  romances  during  blossoming  May, 
while  the  frogs  were  piping  and  croaking  near  by  in  the 
Ashawagh  Swamps.  Here  the  gallant  Israel  Jones  courted 
the  minister's  daughter,  Alithea,  and  they  were  married  in 
1767  and  began  housekeeping  in  the  Fort  Tavern,  until 
their  homestead  was  built  on  the  site  of  Capt.  Clement 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       191 

Harrison's  Mansion,  east  of  St.  Francis  Indian  Ledge. 
Esquire  Israel  Jones  became  deacon  of  the  church  and  unlike 
his  Tory  father  was  a  Whig  in  politics. 

Two  years  after  Israel  Jones  arrived  in  East  Hoosac  he 
had  sold  seventy- three  settling-lots,  and  Capt.  Charles 
Baker  prepared  a  Plan  of  the  town  and  surveyed  two  hun- 
dred farms,  containing  a  hundred  acres  each.  The  Plan, 
containing  the  numbers,  the  positions  of  farms,  and  the 
names  of  proprietors,  is  found  in  the  Town  Clerk's  Office  of 
North  Adams  to-day.  The  name  of  Nathan  Jones  appears 
on  lot  26,  Col.  Elisha  Jones,  Sr.,  on  lot  24,  Col.  James  Otis  on 
lot  12,  and  Col.  John  Murray  on  lot  10.  Ephraim  Williams's 
mill-lot  and  settling-lot  24  are  now  occupied  by  the  city 
of  North  Adams. 

A  proprietors'  meeting  was  held  at  the  Bunch  of  Grapes 
Tavern  in  Boston,  February  5, 1768,  and  the  General  Court 
recorded  Baker's  Plan  of  East  Hoosac.  Meanwhile,  the 
Ephraim  Williams  Fort  Farm  and  Mills,  purchased  by  Capt. 
Elisha  Chapin  and  Moses  Graves  in  1751  for  £350,  reverted 
to  the  Williams  estate  after  1755.  In  1770,  Esquire  Israel 
Jones  purchased  the  farm,  and  his  Tory  brother,  Capt. 
Elisha  Jones,  Jr.,  bought  his  mills,  and  agreed  to  maintain 
them  twenty  years.  Upon  the  approach  of  the  Revolution 
in  1773,  however,  Jedidiah  Hurd  purchased  the  mills  and 
Capt.  Elisha  Jones,  Jr.,  joined  his  father,  Col.  Elisha 
Jones,  Sr.,  in  Canada. 

His  mill-lot  24  was  subsequently  advertised  for  sale  as 
abandoned  land  by  Samuel  Adams,  President  of  the  Senate, 
John  Warren,  Speaker  of  the  House,  approved  by  John 
Hancock.  After  a  legal  hearing,  however,  Jedidiah  Hurd 
obtained  a  deed  for  the  mills  from  the  General  Court.  His 
grandson,  Captain  Blakeley  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  a  son 
of  the  pioneer  settler,  Justus  Blakeley,  of  East  Hoosac  pro- 
priety, informed  the  President  of  Fort  Massachusetts  His- 


192  The  Hoosac  Valley 

torical  Society  during  1895  that  he  held  the  certified  bill 
of  sale  of  Ephraim  Williams's  Mills  to  Jedidiah  Hurd  from 
Capt.  Elisha  Jones. 

The  South  Village  of  Adams  was  settled  by  Quakers.  It 
contained  ten  times  as  many  inhabitants  as  the  North 
Village,  founded  by  Congregationalists  and  Baptists.  Old 
Pastor  Stoughton,  in  his  election  sermon  during  1688,  said 
that:  "God  sifted  a  whole  Nation  that  he  might  send  choice 
grain  into  the  wilderness."  After  the  firing  of  the  first  guns 
at  Lexington,  Parson  Whitman  Welch  and  his  parishioners 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Williamstown,  headed 
by  Capt.  Samuel  Sloan,  faced  the  British  in  the  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  Captain  Sloan's  subsequent  company  of 
"Musket  Men"  were  chosen  from  the  Hoosac  "Minute 
Men,"  and  marched  with  Gen.  Benedict  Arnold's  troops 
against  Quebec.  Captain  Sloan's  muster-roll "  included  the 
names  of  twelve  men  from  East  Hoosac,  now  Adams,  and 
North  Adams;  twenty-seven  from  Williamstown;  six  from 
New  Providence,  now  Stafford  Hill,  in  Cheshire;  nine  from 
Lanesboro  and  New  Ashford;  one  from  Windsor,  one  from 
Sheffield,  and  a  drummer  from  Boston. 

The  muster-roll  of  the  first  company  of  East  Hoosac 
militia  contained  fifty-one  men  commanded  by  Capt.  Enos 
Parker,  son  of  Oliver  Parker,  Sr.  The  New  Providence 
Independents,  residing  on  Stafford  Hill,  now  Cheshire, 
organized  a  company  of  forty -one  men  under  Col.  Joab 
Stafford.  They  aided  the  "Fighting  Parson,"  Thomas 
Allen,  and  his  Pittsfield  parishioners  in  tumbling  down  Col- 
onel Van  Pfister's  Tory  breastworks  and  winning  the  Battle 
of  Bennington  on  August  16,  1777.  Stafford  Hill  to-day  ^ 
like  ancient  Sarum  of  England,  is  deserted. 

After  the  Americans'  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  on  July 
5th,  until  the  surrender  of  the  Britishers  at  Old  Saratoga  in 

1  See  note  14,  at  end  of  volume. 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       193 

October,  1777,  a  constant  line  of  New  England  troopers 
marched  over  Hoosac  Mountain.  The  Old  Brown  Tavern 
at  Five  Points  on  the  side  of  Hoosac  Mountain,  and  Oliver 
Parker's  Fort  Tavern  were  crowded  day  and  night.  The 
latter  often  had  a  captain's  company  to  dinner,  and  it  is  re- 
corded that  he  served  five  fat  beeves  weekly  during  August, 
1777.  His  two  sons,  Enos  and  Didmus,  and  a  nephew, 
Giles  Parker,  all  led  companies  against  the  British. 

Josiah  Holbrook,  Jr.,  another  East  Hoosac  patriot,  resided 
in  a  log  dwelling  near  the  Reuben  Whitman  homestead  on 
State  Street.  He  captured  a  band  of  thirteen  Hessians  on 
the  Walloomsac  battle-field,  while  they  were  drinking  at  a 
spring.  He  seized  their  rifles,  and  bawled  out  to  his 
imaginary  comrades:  "Come  on,  here  they  are!"  Thus  he 
drove  them  all  like  unresisting  sheep  ahead  of  him  to  the 
American  camp.  Upon  being  questioned  by  General  Stark 
how  he  managed  to  capture  such  a  herd,  Holbrook  replied: 
"  I  surrounded  'em,  Sir ! "  *  Holbrook  Street  in  North  Adams 
bears  his  name  to-day. 

A  year  after  the  surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga, 
East  Hoosac  was  incorporated  Adams,  in  honor  of  Samuel 
Adams,  the  "  Father  of  the  American  Revolution,"  on  Octo- 
ber 15,  1778,  and  Jericho,  south  of  Williamstown,  was 
incorporated  Hancock,  in  honor  of  John  Hancock. 

The  first  town-meeting  of  Adams  took  place  near  the 
First  Church  on  the  Cross  Road,  March  8,  1779.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  voters  resided  at  the  Quaker  Village  in  the 
south  part  of  the  town.  The  officers  included :  Capt.  Philip 
Mason,  moderator;  Isaac  Arnold,  clerk;  Capt.  Reuben  Hin- 
man,  treasurer;  and  Capt.  Philip  Mason,  Israel  Jones,  and 
Reuben  Hinman,  selectmen.  On  March  22d,  Luther  Rich, 
David  Jewell,  and  Eleazar  Brown  were  chosen  assessors; 
Elisha  Jones,  Elias  Jones,   Gideon  Smith   (superseded  by 

1  Hamilton  Morris,  History  of  North  Adams,  1859-1860. 
13 


194  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Justus  Blakeley,  June  17th),  Jonathan  Russe,  Stephen  Smith, 
Philip  Mason,  Ruluff  White,  Oliver  Parker,  Jonathan  Hale, 
and  Daniel  Sherman,  surveyors  of  highways;  Lemuel 
Leavenworth  (superseded  by  Justus  Holt,  June  17th)  and 
William  Barker,  collectors  of  taxes;  Edmund  Jenks,  Benja- 
min Baker,  William  Smith,  Jedidiah  Hurd,  and  John  Kilburn, 
Committee  of  Public  Safety.  The  business  of  the  last  named 
was  that  of  patrolling  guard  to  thwart  Tory,  British,  French, 
and  Indian  spies  of  American  liberty.  After  the  organiza- 
tion of  Adams  two  military  companies  were  formed,  and  the 
Cross  Road  was  adopted  as  the  military  line  separating  the 
North  from  the  South  districts. 

At  the  first  town-meeting,  the  Baptist  and  Quaker  vote 
won  the  day  and  Parson  Samuel  Todd  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  received  a  minority.  He  was  requested  to 
relinquish  his  rights  to  the  minister's  lot  48,  granted  to  him 
for  life  in  1766  by  the  General  Court,  and  soon  removed  to 
Oxford,  N.  H.,  the  third  town  above  Hanover,  the  seat  of 
Dartmouth  College.  He  did  not  relinquish  his  rights  to 
his  farm,  and  this  resulted  in  religious  and  political  contro- 
versies between  the  settlers  of  the  South  Village  and  the 
North  Village  until  the  town  was  divided.  North  Adams 
was  incorporated  in  April,  1878,  and  the  military  line  running 
east  and  west  on  the  Cross  Road  was  adopted  as  the  boun- 
dary between  the  two  towns. 

The  membership  of  the  Congregational  Church  decreased 
with  constant  shifting  of  population  and  the  meeting-house 
was  abandoned  in  1803.  Deacon  Israel  Jones  and  his  wife, 
Alithea  Todd-Jones,  attended  the  Congregational  Church 
at  Williamstown  until  the  deacon's  death  in  1828,  and  he 
was  buried  in  the  Hemlock  Brook  Cemetery  in  Williams- 
town.  The  Second  Congregational  Church  was  built  in  1827 
on  The  Square  in  North  Adams,  opposite  the  First  Baptist 
Church.     Parson  Todd's  lot  48  is  now  occupied  by  the  North 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       195 

Adams  Poor  Farm,  and  the  dividing  line  between  the  two 
towns  has  recently  been  removed  farther  south,  near  the 
Adams  Poor  Farm. 

After  Parson  Todd's  resignation  in  1779  the  people  of 
the  Adams  Valley  were  without  a  minister  until  1782,  when 
it  was  voted  to  raise  funds  and  build  a  frame  meeting- 
house, 30  x  38  feet  in  size,  near  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Pleasant  streets  in  the  North  Village.  The  building  remained 
unfinished  until  the  arrival  of  the  Rhode  Island  Baptists. 
Capt.  Jeremiah  Colgrove  from  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  road- 
master  in  1793,  and  headed  by  the  Baptist  Elder,  Amos 
Brownson,  a  millwright  and  carpenter,  fifty  men  with  fifty 
yoke  of  oxen  held  a  "moving-bee"  and  cleared  the  stumps 
from  Church  and  Main  streets.  The  meeting-house  was 
hauled  down  Church  Street  and  set  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  Main  and  Eagle  streets,  where  it  remained  unfinished  for 
thirteen  years.  Its  floor  consisted  of  loose  boards,  five  feet 
above  the  ground,  beneath  which  the  pet  lambs  of  the  hamlet 
assembled  during  service,  and  their  tinkling  bells  served  as 
diversion  for  many  listless  young  worshippers. 

About  1806,  the  meeting-house  was  completed  and  the 
Warren  Society  organized  the  Baptist  Church.  Elder  Dyer 
Stark  was  installed  as  first  minister,  and  preached  alternately 
also  at  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Stamford  Hollow  on  the 
upper  Mayoonsac  in  Vermont.  Elder  Amos  Brownson 
frequently  preached  at  the  Adams  Baptist  Church  until  his 
removal  from  the  valley  in  18 16.  His  homestead  stood 
until  1858  on  the  corner  of  Eagle  and  River  streets. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  was  not  heated,  and  each  family 
carried  a  foot-stove  for  warmth  during  the  winter.  The 
building  faced  south ;  and  stairways  on  each  side  of  the  porch 
led  up  to  the  low  gallery.  The  oblong  pews  were  located 
along  three  aisles  leading  to  the  pulpit,  and  seated  about 
five  hundred  people.     The  old  meeting-house  is  still  doing 


196  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

duty  as  a  furniture  shop  and  tenement  on  North  Church 
Street,  in  the  rear  of  the  present  edifice,  now  the  fourth 
Baptist  Church  on  the  site. 

The  oldest  cemeteries  in  the  Adams  Valley  besides  the 
"  God's  Acre  "  of  Fort  Massachusetts  are  First  Congregational , 
First  Baptist,  and  Old  Quaker  churchyards.  The  oldest 
marked  gravestone  in  Adams  Intervale  is  that  of  Amos  Hurd, 
on  a  sand-hill  near  Hoosac  Valley  Park,  bearing  date  No- 
vember 29,  1759.  He  was  a  soldier  and  perished  from  cold 
and  hunger  on  his  homeward  march  after  the  Fall  of  Quebec. 

The  oldest  graves  in  the  First  Congregational  churchyard 
lie  beneath  the  wild  cherry  trees,  south  of  the  gate  of  the 
Hoosac  Valley  Park,  marked  by  quartzite  boulders  without 
inscription.  The  oldest  marked  tombstones  are  those  of 
"Capt.  R.  N.  Died  Jan.  25,  1793"  and  "Lydia  and  Ashael 
Ives,"  who  died  a  century  later.  Captain  Colgrove  founded 
a  burial-field  on  Colgrove  Hill  in  1795,  where  the  members  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  were  buried.  A  few  years  ago 
their  dust  was  removed  to  the  new  cemetery  on  South 
Church  Street  near  the  City  Poor  Farm,  in  order  to  make 
room  for  a  public  park  on  North  Church  Street,  west  of 
Drury  Academy. 

The  Society  of  Friends  and  their  burial-field  was  organized 
in  1 78 1,  and  a  log  meeting-house  was  built.  The  present 
Quaker  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1786,  a  mile  west  of 
McKinley  Square  in  South  Village,  by  the  founders,  David 
Anthony  and  his  son,  Daniel  Anthony  (the  father  of  the 
late  famous  Suffragette,  Susan  B.  Anthony),  Isaac  Kilby, 
Isaac  Upton,  Joshua  and  George  Lapham,  Adam  Harkness, 
Rufus  Hathaway,  and  others.  The  first  speakers  were  Rob- 
ert Nesbit,  Mary  Beatty,  and  David  Aldridge. 

The  machinist,  Hay  den,  of  the  Notch  Valley  organized 
the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  about  1795,  aided  by 
the  famous  revivalist,  Lorenzo  Dow,  who  was  connected 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       197 

with  the  Petersburgh  Circuit  of  New  York.     The  Methodist 
Church  was  built  in  the  North  Village  several  years  later. 

The  District  School  System  of  Adams  proved  a  serious 
problem,  and  only  £3  was  voted  toward  the  education  of 
the  first  proprietors'   children.     At  the  time  the   Massa- 


Old  Quaker  Meeting-house  built  in  1786  on  the  site  of  the  first  log  meeting- 
house at  base  of  Mount  Greylock,  Adams,  Massachusetts.  In  the  Burial-field 
west  of  the  meeting-house  lie  buried  many  of  the  pioneer  founders  of  the  Adams 
Valley  hamlets. 


chusetts  Legislature  misappropriated  Ephraim  Williams's 
Free  School  fund,  the  Adams  citizens  raised  £150  and  estab- 
lished several  schools.  The  town  in  1793  was  divided  into 
the  North  and  South  districts  and  subdivided  later  into 
smaller  districts. 

Private  tutors  were  engaged  among  the  Quaker  families. 
Daniel  Anthony  taught  the  District  School  in  the  South 
Village,  and  later  his  daughter,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  years,  taught  the  children  of  Bowen's  Corner 


198  The  Hoosac  Valley 

at  her  grandfather's  homestead  for  a  dollar  a  week  each. 
In  this  way  she  earned  money  enough  to  complete  her  edu- 
cation at  the  Friends'  Seminary  in  Philadelphia.  It  was 
little  dreamed  at  the  opening  of  18 10  that  a  century  later 
the  North  District,  now  the  city  of  North  Adams,  would 
boast  of  the  best  equipped  State  Normal  College  in  New 
England. 

With  the  advent  of  Samuel  Day,  Titus  Harrison,  Truman 
Paul,  Elisha  Baker,  and  Samuel  Kellogg  several  historic 
buildings  were  built  on  the  Hoosac  Road  between  Williams- 
town  and  Adams.  Day  built  the  Blockhouse  Inn  previous 
to  1780  in  the  North  Village  of  Adams.  At  first  it  was  used 
as  a  storehouse  for  the  settlers  before  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  after  1783  it  was  converted  into  Block  Tavern. 
It  stood  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  State  streets, 
on  the  site  of  Martin  Block,  and  the  building  was  one  and 
a  half  stories  high,  divided  into  two  huge  rooms.  The  first 
was  like  a  shed,  with  a  large  gate  for  the  entrance  of  teams 
and  carry-alls. 

According  to  a  record  preserved  by  the  President  of  the 
Fort  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Day's  Blockhouse 
Inn  was  built  by  Capt.  Amos  Shippee.  After  the  passing 
of  the  old  border  forts,  it  became  a  mid-way  lodge  for  mi- 
grating settlers.  The  bar-room  proved  a  rallying  place  for 
Elder  Brownson  and  parishioners,  where  each  partook  of  his 
"toddy  sticks  of  rock  and  rye"  and  discussed  Federalism 
and  Democracy  between  Shays's  Rebellion  and  the  close  of 
the  second  revolution  in  181 5.  One  of  the  most  rousing 
scenes  associated  with  the  inn  took  place  after  the  election 
of  President  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Vice-President  Aaron 
Burr  in  1801. 

The  Jeffersonian  Democrat  members  of  the  Council  of 
Safety  collected  the  pitch-pine  stumps  lying  about  the  village 
streets  and  stacked  them  in  front  of  Block  Tavern.     They 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       199 

were  lighted  with  a  torch  and  produced  a  never-to-be-for- 
gotten smoke  which  blackened  the  front  of  the  inn,  after 
which  the  building  was  known  as  Black  Tavern.  The 
Cheshire  Democrats  also  expressed  their  enthusiasm  by  pro- 
ducing the  " Great  Cheshire  Cheese,"  which  weighed  1235 
pounds,  made  from  the  milk  collected  in  one  day  from  the 
farm  dairies.  The  cheese  was  moulded  in  a  cider  press  and 
required  several  yoke  of  oxen  to  haul  it  to  Hudson  ferry 
to  be  expressed  to  President  Jefferson.  The  Pittsfield 
Democrats  manifested  their  joy,  too,  by  ringing  "  Fighting 
Parson  Allen's"  church  bell  until  they  broke  the  rope. 

There  were  only  five  other  dwellings  in  "Slab  City,"  now 
North  Adams,  in  1780,  including  Samuel  Day's  Blockhouse 
Inn  and  Giles  Barnes's,  Josiah  Wright's,  Ely  Colton's,  and 
William  Farrand's  dwellings  near  Ephraim  Williams's  Mills, 
at  the  foot  of  Main  Street.  Oliver  Parker,  Sr.,  owned  a  saw- 
mill and  grist-mill  in  "Upper  Union"  on  the  Mayoonsac, 
although  a  freshet  which  occurred  on  April  17,  1780,  known 
as  the  "Parker  Flood,"  swept  away  his  mills  and  50,000 
feet  of  lumber.  The  millstone  was  rolled  some  distance 
down  the  stream,  where  it  remained  visible  to  travellers  for 
many  years.  Later  Oliver  Parker,  Sr.,  ran  Kingsley  Place 
Tavern  and  store,  where  his  son,  Oliver  Parker,  Jr.,  was  born 
in  1784.  All  the  bridges  were  destroyed  during  the  great 
flood  and  Landlord  Parker  brought  grain  on  horseback  from 
Greenfield,  and  crossed  over  three  fords  to  Kreigger  Mills  in 
Williamstown  to  get  it  ground.  Capt.  Amos  Shippee 
brought  salt  on  horseback  also,  paying  $10  per  bushel  for 
the  rare  article. 

The  period  between  1783  and  1793  proved  to  be  a  trying 
one  for  the  settlers  of  Adams,  owing  to  the  heavy  taxes. 
Several  patriots,  including  Josiah  Holbrook,  Jr.,  who  fought 
heroically  for  the  American  cause  during  1777,  joined  Shays's 
Rebellion  in   1786.     After  the  suppression  of  Shays's  men, 


200  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Holbrook  returned  to  North  Adams  and  it  took  four  officers 
to  arrest  him  and  bind  him  lying  in  his  bed.  The  Town 
Records  prove  that  Josiah  Holbrook,  Jr.,  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Commonwealth  and  was  pardoned  by  Gen- 
eral Lincoln  in  1 787.  Esquire  Israel  Jones  was  chosen  agent  to 
petition  the  General  Court  in  January,  1 792,  for  an  abatement 
of  the  State  tax  laid  upon  the  Adams  inhabitants  in  1788. 
Collector  Oliver  Parker,  Sr.,  was  ruined  financially  and  sent 
to  jail  by  his  bondsmen  because  he  was  unable  to  collect 
the  apportioned  tax.  In  spite  of  his  threadbare  clothes  and 
thin-soled  boots  he  continued  to  occupy  the  seat  of  honor 
in  the  First  Baptist  Church  until  his  death.  Through  the 
depreciation  of  the  Continental  "  green-backs "  many  a 
wealthy  farmer  throughout  the  Hoosac  Valley  died  in 
poverty.  They  were  required  to  pay  $20  in  Continental 
specie  for  a  dinner,  $1000  for  a  suit  of  clothes,  and  the  price 
of  a  farm  for  a  cow. 

The  progressive  era  of  Adams  began  about  1793,  upon  the 
arrival  of  the  Rhode  Island  Baptist  manufacturers,  including 
Capt.  Jeremiah  Colgrove  and  his  brother-in-law,  Elisha 
Brown,  from  Providence.  The  former  married  a  daughter 
of  Col.  William  Waterman  of  Williamstown,  and  he  prophe- 
sied in  1795  that  "Slab  City"  would  become  a  great  manu- 
facturing city.  Only  eleven  dwellings  stood  in  the  North 
Village  in  1794,  at  the  time  Colgrove  and  Brown  purchased 
Jedidiah  Hurd's  Mills,  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land  ex- 
tending east  to  Colgrove  Hill.  They  built  a  two-story 
brick  grist-mill  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Ashawaghsac,  now 
the  site  of  Phoenix  Mill,  and  a  saw-mill  on  the  opposite 
bank.  Daniel  Harrington  rebuilt  Oliver  Parker's  Mills 
in  the  "Upper  Union,"  and  Elder  Amos  Brownson  oper- 
ated a  saw-mill  and  planer  on  the  Mayoonsac  until  he 
removed  West  in  181 6.  The  blacksmith,  Joseph  Darby, 
opened  a  shop  on  the  Notch  Road,  and  David  Estes  from 


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202  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Connecticut  opened  a  mill  at  the  same  time  as  Colgrove  and 
Brown. 

Landlord  David  Darling  during  1616  sold  the  Black 
Tavern  to  Alphine  Smith,  who  kept  open  hostelry  during 
the  stage-coach  days  until  1836.  He  dispensed  rye  and 
Indian  corn-bread,  baked  beans,  pumpkin  pie,  Cheshire 
sage  cheese,  cider  brandy,  and  sparkling  water  from  the 
hillside  springs.  He  purchased  the  site  of  his  North 
Adams  House  of  Capt.  Jeremiah  Colgrove  in  1836.  In 
1838  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  mentions  the  place  in  his 
American  Note-Book  as  the  "Whig  Tavern."  The  site  is 
now  occupied  by  the  Wilson  House. 

During  18 15,  Captain  Colgrove  induced  his  father-in-law, 
Col.  William  W?terman  of  Williamstown,  to  build  the 
Waterman  Tavern  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Main  and 
State  streets.  In  1829,  James  Wilbur,  son  of  Jeremiah 
Wilbur,  Sr.,  of  the  Notch  Valley,  purchased  the  place.  He 
repaired  the  house  and  added  a  front  porch  with  pillars  and 
a  fountain  on  the  lawn  facing  Main  Street.  The  inn  was 
in  1835  considered  among  the  finest  in  Northern  Berkshire. 
About  1866,  the  Wilbur  Tavern  was  purchased  and  re- 
modelled by  A.  E.  Richmond  and  is  known  to-day  as  the 
Richmond  House. 

Greylock  Tavern  in  the  South  Village  was  built  by 
Ephraim  Bassett  before  the  Revolution.  It  was  later  pur- 
chased by  the  Harteau  family,  and  became  famous  for  its 
social  balls.  During  1825,  General  La  Fayette  was  a  guest 
at  the  Harteau  Mansion  on  the  Bluff,  where  it  is  reported 
that  he  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  American  girl  who 
was  engaged  to  an  officer  of  Washington's  army.  The 
Harteau  Mansion  and  Greylock  Tavern  descended  to  Henry 
Harteau  and  his  wife,  who  were  known  as  "Lord  and  Lady 
Bountiful."  After  the  death  of  "Lord  Bountiful"  the 
tavern  was  closed  for  many  years.      It  has  recently  been 


East  Hoosac  Plantation  and  Adams       203 

reopened  by  "Lady  Bountiful/'  who  has  returned  from 
Europe.  Rufus  Hathaway's  homestead  and  several  other 
regulation  houses  that  were  used  as  inns  still  stand  in  the 
shadow  of  Old  Greylock  on  the  Raven  Rock  trail  leading 
over  the  Ragged  Mountains. 

Fort  Massachusetts  Meadow  is  at  present  surrounded  by 
factory  smoke-stacks,  church-spires,  and  school-towers.  As 
early  as  1770,  Israel  Jones  began  to  plough  down  the  mounds 
marking  the  site  of  the  palisade  of  forest  staddles  set  by 
Capt.  Ephraim  Williams  and  his  men  in  175 1.  At  the  time 
of  Jones's  death  in  1828,  all  traces  of  the  barracks  and  gar- 
den had  vanished,  except  for  a  few  surviving  horse-radish 
plants. 

Capt.  Clement  Harrison  of  Williamstown  purchased  the 
Fort  Meadow  in  1829,  and  in  1852  Arthur  Latham  Perry 
recovered  the  tombstone  of  Elisha  Nims  from  the  ploughed 
field  on  the  site  of  the  "God's  Acre,"  and  it  is  now  on  exhi- 
bition at  Clark  Hall,  Williamstown.  In  1858,  only  a  stone- 
heap  and  sheep-shed  marked  the  site  of  the  barracks  where 
Albert  Hopkins,  Arthur  Latham  Perry,  and  Capt.  Clement 
Harrison  located  the  fort  well.  It  was  covered  with  a  flat 
slate  stone  and  contained  brick,  cooking  utensils,  and  the 
pole-hook  of  the  ancient  well-sweep. 

A  party  of  Williams  students  joined  Professors  Hopkins 
and  Perry  in  1858  and  planted  a  sapling  elm,  although  it 
died,  as  did  the  second  elm  planted  in  1859.  Professor 
Perry  later  transplanted  the  present  elm  from  the  river 
bank.  It  was  christened  "Perry  Elm"  by  the  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society. 


CHAPTER    X 

SAMUEL   ROBINSON   AND    HISTORIC    BENNINGTON 

i 749-1 815 

Time  rolls  his  ceaseless  course.     The  race  of  yore 
Who  danced  our  infancy  upon  their  knee, 

And  told  our  marvelling  childhood  legend's  store 
Of  their  strange  ventures  happ'd  by  land  and  sea, 
How  are  they  blotted  from  the  things  that  be! 

Isaac  Jennings,  Memorials  of  a  Century. 

Robinson  Family — Surveys  of  Bennington  and  Pownal,  1 749-1 760— Mili- 
tary Proprietors — Mills — Churches — Schools — Town-Meetings —  Militia 
— Taverns  —  Safford  Mills — Irish-Corner  —  Little  Rhode  Island  — 
Haviland  Mills — Sage  City — Algiers — Burial-Fields  of  Walloomsac. 

SAMUEL  ROBINSON,  the  first  settler  of  Bennington,  was 
captain  of  the  Hardwick  company  in  Colonel  Ruggles's 
Massachusetts  regiment  during  the  campaigns  of  1755  and 
1756.  On  his  homeward  march  from  Lake  George  during 
the  autumn  of  1756,  he  lost  the  main  Hoosac  trail  and  turned 
up  the  Walloomsac  Pass.  He  and  his  men  pitched  their 
tents  near  the  site  of  the  Old  Red  Bridge  on  the  Manchester 
Road,  at  the  base  of  Bennington  Hill,  where  the  Battle 
Monument  now  casts  its  shimmering  reflection  in  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  stream. 

The  Robinson  family  of  New  England  descended  from 
Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,of  Bristol,  Eng.,  who  located  at  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  in  1680.  His  son,  Samuel  Robinson,  Jr., 
was  born  in  1707,  and  after  his  marriage  to  Mary  Leonard 
settled  in  Hardwick,  from  which  town  he  migrated  to 
Bennington  in  176 1.  He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
Rev.   John  Robinson,   the  first  minister  of  the  Pilgrims' 

204 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington  205 

Ley  den  Church  of  Holland.  The  latter  was  foremost  among 
the  Separatists  or  Brownists,  who  met  with  Clyfton,  Morton, 
Bradford,  Smith,  and  others  in  1606  at  Brewster's  Manor- 
house,  the  "Post  of  Scrooby,"  of  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
near  the  junction  of  the  river  Ryton  with  the  Idle,  and 
organized  a  Separate  Church  "estate  in  Ye  felowship  of 
Ye  gospell."1 

The  first  colonial  settlements  of  New  York  and  New 
England  were  made  by  Protestant  Dutch  Boers,  French 
Walloons,  and  English  Pilgrims  from  Holland  between  161 1 
and  1624.  Between  1749  and  1777,  Captains  Seth  Hudson, 
Gent.,  Samuel  Robinson,  Thomas  Jewett,  and  other  lineal 
descendants  of  Henry  Hudson's  crew  of  the  Half- Moon 
and  the  Rev.  John  Robinson's  Ley  den  Pilgrims  of  the  ship 
Mayflower,  settled  in  Williamstown,  Pownal,  Bennington, 
and  Shaftsbury,  bordering  the  Twenty-Mile  Line  of  Dutch 
Hoosac  between  New  York,  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  New 
Hampshire  Grants. 

The  original  founders  of  Bennington  and  Pownal  were 
veteran  commanders  and  soldiers  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  who  rocked  the  cradles  of  the  Revolutionary  "Sons 
of  Freedom"  in  Fort  Massachusetts  and  Fort  Hoosac. 
Bennington  proved  the  first  town  chartered  in  the  Green 
Mountain  region,  west  of  the  Connecticut  River.  It  was 
planned  by  Col.  William  Williams,  the  "Father  of  Pitts- 
field,"  Theodore  Atkinson,  Foster  Wentworth,  and  sur- 
veyed by  Matthew  Clyfton  nine  months  before  Adams  and 
Williamstown.  Gov.  Benning  Wentworth  signed  and  sealed 
the  charter,  January  3,  1749,  although  the  town  was  not 
settled  until  twelve  years  later. 

The  southwest  corner  of  Bennington  was  located  on  the 
Twenty-Mile  Line  of  New  York  by  beginning  the  survey  at 

1  Henry  Morton  Dexter,  "The  First  American  to  Visit  Scrooby,  185 1," 
New  Eng.  Mag.,  Oct.,  1890. 


206  The  Hoosac  Valley 

a  hemlock  tree  marked  " W.  W.,"  six  miles  north  of  a  "White 
Oak  Tree  marked  M.  C.  I.  T."  on  Hazen's  Line  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  twenty-four  miles  east  of  Hudson  River. 
The  survey  continued  four  miles  west  to  the  established 
corner  of  a  stake  and  stones,  thence  north  six  miles  to  the 
present  marble  marker  half  a  mile  south  of  Tory  Matthew's 
State  Line  Tavern,  now  known  as  Charles  B.  Allen's  residence, 
thence  east  six  miles,  thence  south  six  miles,  and  west  two 
miles  to  the  hemlock  tree  marked  "W.  W." 

Bennington  and  Pownal  are  types  of  all  the  towns  granted 
in  the  Green  Mountain  State  by  Governor  Went  worth. 
Each  charter  contained  a  clause  for  education,  religion,  and 
"thrift,  thrift — Horatio!"  Every  proprietor  was  required 
to  build  a  regulation  house,  clear  and  cultivate  five  acres 
out  of  every  fifty  acres  in  his  possession  within  five  years,  and 
aid  in  building  mills,  a  meeting-house,  schoolhouses,  roads, 
and  bridges. 

The  village  plot  at  Bennington  Centre  contained  sixty- 
four  acre  lots,  and  the  rest  of  the  town  was  divided  into 
sixty -four  equal  shares.  "One  whole  Share  was  reserved 
for  the  Incorporated  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  one  Share  for  a  Glebe  for  the  Church  of  England 
as  by  Law  Established,  and  one  Share  for  the  Benefit  of  a 
School";  and  a  "Tract  of  Five  Hundred  Acres,  marked  'B. 
W.'  on  the  Plan,  to  His  Excellency,  Benning  Wentworth, 
Esq."  It  was  said  that  in  subsequent  towns:  "If  there  was 
any  Land  bad  enough  to  be  of  man  and  God  forsaken,  the 
guileless  grantees  so  managed  that  that  very  Land  turned 
out  to  be  the  'Governor's  Rights.'"  A  quit-rent  of  "One 
Ear  of  Indian  Corn"  for  each  village  lot,  and  one  shilling 
Proclamation  Money  for  every  one  hundred  acres  was 
required  of  the  proprietors  annually  on  December  25th. 

Among  the  veterans  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  on 
the  Bennington  Plan  appear  the  names  of  Sir  William  Pep- 


The  Walloomsac  River  above  the  Old  Red  Bridge  on  the  Bennington  and 
Manchester  Road,  at  the  northern  base  of  Bennington  Hill.  The  Battle  Monu- 
ment is  reflected  in  the  shallow  water  of  the  river.  It  is  probably  the  only  place 
where  it  is  reflected  in  the  Walloomsac. 


207 


208 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


perell  of  Maine,  General  of  the  New  England  Rangers,  who 
captured  the  " Gibraltar  Fortress"  of  the  French  in  1745, 
and  of  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  on  lot  38;  and  the  names 


1 

4        ~Il 

I                                       1 

"#*■ 

Plan  of  Bennington  Township,  granted  to  Col.  William  Williams  and  others  by 
Gov.  Benning  Wentworth,  January  j,  1749. 

of  Col.  William  Williams  and  Col.  Israel  Williams,  nephews 
of  John  Stoddard,  Colonel  of  the  Hampshire  (Berkshire) 
militia  until  his  death  in  June,  1748,  and  Capt.  Ephraim 
Williams,  Jr.,  of  Fort  Massachusetts  and  his  brother,  Dr. 
Thomas  Williams,  besides  their  half  brothers,  Josiah  and 
Elijah  Williams,   and   cousin,  the  Rev.  John  Williams  of 


Charter  of  Bennington,  the  first  Township  granted  in  the  Green  Mountain  State 
by  Gov.  Benning  Wentworth,  January  J,  1749.     Settled  in  April,  176 1. 


14 


209 


210  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Deerfield,  son  of  Col.  Israel  Williams,  and  several  Scotch- 
Irish  soldiers  from  Forts  Shirley  and  Pelham.  Gov.  Ben- 
ning  Went  worth,  John  and  Foster  Went  worth,  Theodore 
Atkinson,  and  other  members  of  the  Portsmouth  Council 
of  New  Hampshire  later  sold  their  shares  to  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  proprietors. 

The  town  of  Pownal,  south  of  Bennington,  was  chartered 
by  Governor  Wentworth  January  8,  1760,  and  named  after 
Gov.  Thomas  Pownal  of  Massachusetts.  The  first  proprietors 
included  Capt.  Seth  Hudson,  Gent.,  and  several  Fort  Hoosac 
and  Fort  Massachusetts  garrison  soldiers,  including:  John 
Lovatt,xJohn  Corey,  Ezekiel  Hinds,  Silas  Pratt,  Abraham 
Bass,  Ephraim  Bassett,  Charles  Wright,  Isaac  Charles, 
John  Horsford,  Ephraim  Seelye,  Sr.,  Michael  Dunning, 
Obadiah  Dunham,  and  others. 

A  proprietors'  meeting  took  place  in  June,  1760,  and  it  was 
voted  to  give  the  Dutch  burgher,  named  Kreigger,  a  "single 
right,"  on  account  of  mill  improvements  made  at  the  foot  of 
Kreigger  Rocks  at  North  Corners,  now  North  Pownal,  where 
the  first  mill  in  Vermont,  west  of  the  Green  Mountains, 
was  built.  The  first  town-meeting  was  held  May  8,  1763, 
at  Charles  Wright's  Tavern,  later  known  as  Rev.  John 
M.  Bacheldor's  Rural  School  for  Boys,  now  the  site  of  the 
Hon.  Amasa  Thompson's  residence  in  South  Pownal.  Capt. 
Seth  Hudson,  Gent.,  was  chosen  moderator;  Asa  Alger, 
clerk;  John  Van  Arnam,  constable;  Edmond  Town,  Asa 
Alger,  and  Jabez  Warren,  selectmen;  and  Thomas  Juet  or 
Jewett,  justice  of  the  peace.  The  first  Tuesday  of  January 
was  set  aside  for  the  annual  town-meeting. 

The  Elder,  George  Gardner,  son  of  Capt.  Caleb  Gard- 
ner of  Jericho,  now  Hancock,  Mass.,  was  fourteen  days 
moving  his  family  and  goods  to  his  log  parsonage,  on  the 
site  of  the  Frank  Paddock  homestead  at  the  foot  of  Car- 
penter Hill  in  Pownal.     His  daughter  Sarah  proved  to  be 

1  Descendant  of  Earl  of  Lovatt. 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    211 

the  first  child  born  in  the  town.  Elder  Gardner  planted 
an  apple  nursery  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  and  lived  to  eat 
fruit  from  the  orchard,  nineteen  years  later,  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  four  years.  The  first  log  meeting-house 
of  Pownal  was  built  in  the  orchard,  east  of  his  dwelling. 
Elder  Gardner  was  a  Tory  and  after  the  Battle  of  Benning- 
ton he  was  hung  to  a  fence  stake  by  his  leathern  waist-band 
until  squeezed  into  a  Whig.  His  grave  is  marked  in  the 
Gardner  burial-field  on  Kreigger  Rock  Road. 

Pownal  was  thus  settled  before  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson, 
Sr.,  from  Hardwick,  Mass.,  in  April,  1761,  set  out  on  horse- 
back for  Bennington,  to  build  his  log  house  on  lot  38.  He 
remained  at  Capt.  Moses  Rice's  Inn  in  Charlemont  on  April 
9th,  where  he  purchased  spring  wheat,  and  the  next  evening 
he  remained  at  Benjamin  Simonds's  Inn  at  Fort  Hoosac  Vil- 
lage, now  Williamstown.  He  reached  the  maple  grove  on 
Bennington  Hill,  April  nth,  and  built  his  cottage,  planted 
a  garden,  and  cleared  and  sowed  a  field  of  wheat. 

During  June,  a  party  of  twenty-two  souls  rode  over  Hoosac 
Mountain  Road.  It  included  Leonard  and  Samuel  Robin- 
son, Jr. ;  Peter,  Eleazar,  and  Mary  Harwood  from  Hardwick; 
and  Samuel  and  Timothy  Pratt  from  Amherst,  Mass.  They 
remained  overnight  at  Captain  Rice's  Tavern,  June  18th, 
and  at  sunset  the  next  day  dismounted  on  The  Square  at 
Fort  Hoosac.  Capt.  Seth  Hudson,  Benjamin  Simonds, 
and  Nehemiah  Smedley  welcomed  the  pilgrims.  The 
Smedley  cottage,  built  in  1753,  was  surrounded  by  an  apple 
orchard  on  lot  1 .  Young  Smedley  was  an  awkward  bachelor 
of  twenty-eight  when  Molly  Harwood,  just  sweet  sixteen, 
arrived  in  apple-blossom  time.  Her  brothers,  Peter  and 
Eleazar,  must  have  helped  things  along  in  a  social  way,  for 
two  years  after  Molly  Harwood's  ride  to  Bennington  Centre 
she  became  the  mistress  of  Smedley  cottage  in  Williamstown. 
Their  first  child,  Levi  Smedley,  was  born  October  8,  1764,  and 


212 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


upon  his  eighth  birthday  Nehemiah  Smedley  had  a  "raising 
bee"  at  which  the  Harwoods  and  other  Bennington  boys 


Six  Representative  Sons  of  Freedom,  five  of  whom  were  born  at  Bennington, 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  between  1762-1777.  Beginning  on  left  of  seated  row  ap- 
pear: Benjamin  Harwood,  first  child  born  in  Bennington,  January  2,  1762,  died 
January  22,  1851;  Abisha  Kingsley,  born  March  18,  1766,  died  August  g,  185Q; 
Aaron  Robinson,  born  May  4,  1768,  died  August  10,  184Q;  Samuel  Safford,  born  in 
Sunderland,  Massachusetts,  June  24,  1761,  died  September  II,  1851.  Beginning 
on  left  of  standing  row  appear:  David  Robinson,  born  July  13,  1777,  died  March 
15,  1858;  Samuel  Fay,  born  August  16,  1772,  died  December  25,  1863.  The  latter 
was  five  years  of  age  at  the  time  the  Battle  of  Bennington  was  fought. 

hoisted  into  position  the  white  oak  timbers  of  his  Green 
River  Mansion, x  now  known  as  the  Benjamin  Bridges  Place. 

The  six  pioneer  families  arrived  at  Bennington  Centre, 
June  18,  1 761,  and  were  followed  by  thirty  other  families 

1  See  illustration,  Chapter  VIII. 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    213 

before  Christmas,  including  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  and  John 
Fassett  from  Hard  wick;  Elisha  Field,  Samuel  Montague, 
Experience  Richardson,  and  Jonathan  Scott  from  Sunder- 
land; James  Breakenridge,  Ebenezer  Wood,  Samuel  and 
Oliver  Scott,  Joseph  Wickwire,  and  Samuel  Atwood  from 
Ware  neighborhood,  Mass.;  and  Joseph  Saflord,  John 
Smith,  John  Burnham,  Jr.,  Benajah  Rood  from  Newint  (Old 
Norwich)  Ct.,  and  others.  Benjamin  Harwood  was  the  first 
child  born  in  the  town,  January  2,  1762,  and  was  eighty- 
nine  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1851. 

The  first  proprietors'  meeting  took  place  February  11, 
1762,  and  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  and  John  Fassett 
were  respectively  chosen  moderator  and  clerk.  At  an  ad- 
journed meeting  held  February  20th,  it  was  voted  to  lay  out 
a  meeting-house  plot  of  three  acres,  including  a  burial-field. 
The  town  records  between  1762  and  1794  are  still  to  be 
found  on  a  few  yellow  pages,  eight  inches  square,  in  the 
first  book  of  Bennington  County  Clerk's  Office. 

After  the  admittance  of  fifty  families,  the  town-meeting 
was  held  at  Landlord  John  Fassett 's  Tavern,  Wednesday 
March  31,  1762.  Samuel  Montague  was  chosen  moderator; 
Moses  Robinson,  Sr.,  clerk;  Deacon  Joseph  Saflord,  treas- 
urer; Samuel  Montague,  Moses  Scott,  James  Breakenridge, 
Benajah  Rood,  and  Joseph  Wickwire,  selectmen;  Samuel 
Robinson,  Jr.,  and  John  Smith,  Jr.,  constables;  Deacon 
Joseph  Saflord  and  Elisha  Field,  tithing-men;  Peter  Har- 
wood and  John  Smith,  Jr.,  hay- wards;  Samuel  Atwood  and 
Samuel  Pratt,  fence- viewers ;  Timothy  Pratt  and  Oliver 
Scott,  deer-rifts. 

During  June,  1762,  it  was  voted  to  grant  a  mill-lot  of  five 
acres  and  forty  dollars  to  build  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill, 
and  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  and  Deacon  Joseph  Saflord 
agreed  to  build  the  mills  before  January ,  1 763 .  The  grist-mill 
occupied  the  east  bank  of  the  Walloomsac,  near  the  corner 


214  The  Hoosac  Valley 

of  Beech  and  Main  streets;  and  the  saw-mill  stood  on  the 
west  bank,  near  the  corner  of  Main  and  Morgan  streets. 
The  mill-dam  on  the  South  Branch  of  the  Walloomsac  is 
known  as  Benton  Pond  to-day.  The  miller  was  allowed 
three  quarts  toll  for  every  bushel  of  corn  or  wheat  ground — ■ 
a  pint  more  than  any  other  miller  of  Hoosac  Valley  was 
allowed.  Lieut.  William  Henry  built  a  grist-mill  and  store 
at  "Irish  Corners,"  now  Riverside,  about  1769;  and  the 
Tory,  Joseph  Haviland,  ran  another  grist-mill  on  Haviland 
Brook,  now  Paran  Creek,  at  North  Bennington.  During 
1775,  Eldad  Dewey,  son  of  Parson  Dewey,  built  a  grist- 
mill and  saw-mill  at  the  junction  of  Dewey  Brook  with  the 
Walloomsac,  northwest  of  Dewey  homestead  on  West  Main 
Street,  east  of  Bennington  Hill. 

Deacon  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  was  a  large  landowner  in 
Pownal  and  Shaft sbury.  He  entertained  pioneers  desiring 
to  purchase  farms  and  avoided  mixing  creeds,  the  prime 
cause  that  broke  up  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Adams.  He  managed  to  ascertain  the  religious  views  of 
buyers,  and  if  they  proved  Strict  Congregationalists,  he 
invited  them  to  settle  in  Bennington;  but  if  they  advocated 
the  Baptist  creed  of  the  "Warren  Society,"  he  sent  them 
to  Shaftsbury.  It  was  jocosely  said  that  if  they  expressed 
no  faith  whatever,  he  advised  them  to  settle  in  Pownal. 

The  First  Church  of  Bennington  was  organized  from 
excommunicants  of  five  "Old  Light"  churches  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut.  John  Montague  was  deacon  of 
the  First  Church  of  Sunderland,  Mass.,  founded  in  181 8. 
He  preserved  a  record,  dated  March  3,  1749,  revealing  that 
several  members  held  the  " New  Light"  Doctrine,  and  fifteen 
of  the  "New  Lights"  were  excommunicated.  Four  of  those 
men,  including  Samuel  Montague,  son  of  Deacon  Montague, 
moved  to  Bennington  in  1761. 

The  first  log  meeting-house  built  within  the  limits  of 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    215 

Bennington  was  organized  by  the  Rev.  Ithamar  Hibbard,1 
on  Hibbard' s  lot,  on  the  slope  of  Mount  Anthony,  during 
the  spring  of  1762.  He  adopted  the  "New  Light  System" 
of  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Frothingham  of  Middletown  Church 


The  First  Church  of  Christ,  Bennington  Centre,  New  Hampshire  Grants, 
now  Vermont.  It  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1763  and  completed  interiorly  before 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  July  4, 1776.  The  Bennington  Strict  Con- 
gregational Church  was  organized  from  five  distinct  Separatist  Churches  from 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  December  3 ,  1762-17 q6. 

of  Connecticut,  advocating  the  Baptist  Creed  of  the  mission- 
ary, the  Rev.  Obed  Warren,  founder  of  the  "Warren  Society" 
of  Warren,  Rhode  Island,  in  1767. 

A  later  record  states  that:  "The  Church  of  Christ  from 
Hardwick  and  the  Church  of  Christ  from  Sunderland  met 
together,  and  after  prayers  agreed  upon  and  voted:  'That 
said  Churches  join  together  and  become  One  Body  or  Church 
of  Christ  in  Bennington.' " 

1  The  members  of  Hibbard's  Strict  Separatist  Church  united  with  Dewey's 
Bennington  Centre  Church  in  1796. 


216  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  meeting-house  plot  and  burial-field  of  three  acres  was 
laid  out,  and  on  May  9,  1763,  it  was  voted  to  raise  a  tax  of 
$6.00  on  each  settling-lot  in  town  amounting  to  $384.00,  to 
build  a  meeting-house,  schoolhouse,  mills,  roads,  and  bridges. 
The  meeting-house  stood  midway  between  the  site  of  the 
present  Congregational  Church  and  Walloomsac  Inn.  It 
was  40  x  50  feet  in  size,  with  an  added  porch  twenty  feet 
square.  The  second  story  of  the  latter  was  used  as  a  school- 
room. The  building  had  three  doors;  the  porch  door  faced 
east  and  led  to  the  pulpit;  and  the  north  and  south  doors 
led  to  the  centre  aisle.  A  tier  of  square  pews  was  laid  out 
on  each  side  of  the  centre  aisle,  with  wall  tiers  in  the  rear. 
The  pulpit  was  surmounted  by  an  arched  sounding  board. 

Although  the  meeting-house  was  begun  in  the  early  spring 
of  1763,  the  interior  was  not  completed  until  previous  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  first  minister,  Rev. 
Jedidiah  Dewey  from  Westfield,  Mass.,  was  installed,  August 
14,  1763.  The  members  of  the  Westfield  Church  and  several 
Separatists  from  the  Hardwick,  Sunderland,  and  Old  Nor- 
wich parishes  united  with  the  Bennington  Church.  Parson 
Dewey  adopted  the  "New  Light  System"  of  Fathers  Alex- 
ander Miller  and  Paul  Park  of  the  Plainfield  and  Preston 
Separate  churches  of  Connecticut.  Fathers  Marshall  and 
Palmer  of  the  Canterbury  and  Windsor  Separate  churches 
of  Connecticut  were  present  at  Dewey's  installation.  The 
original  fifty-seven  members1  in  1763  included  the  names  of 
thirty-two  men  and  twenty-five  women,  as  follows: 

George  Abbott  Jonathan  Eastman 

George  Abbott,  Jr.  John  Fassett 

James  Breakenridge  Daniel  Fay 

William  Breakenridge  James  Fay 

David  Doane  James  Fay,  Jr. 

1  Isaac  Jennings,  Memorials  of  a  Century,  pp.  33-34. 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    217 


Elisha  Field 
Jacob  Fisk 
Benjamin  Harwood 
Eleazar  Harwood 
Zachariah  Harwood 
Aaron  Leonard 
Samuel  Montague 
Samuel  Pratt 
Jedidiah  Rice 
Oliver  Rice 
John  Roberts 

Martha  Abbott 
Rebecca  Abbott 
Pearce  Atwood 
Bethial  Burnham 
Elizabeth  Fay 
Lydia  Fay  . 
Mehitable  Fay 
Elizabeth  Fisk 
Bridget  Harwood 
Elizabeth  Harwood 
Martha  Montague 
Mercy  Newton 

Martha 


Samuel  Robinson 
Silas  Robinson 
Joseph  Safford 
Simeon  Sears 
Jonathan  Scott 
Jonathan  Scott,  Jr. 
Elijah  Story 
Stephen  Story 
Samuel  Tubbs 
Benjamin  Whipple 
Ichobod  Stratton 

Baty  Pratt 
Elizabeth  Pratt 
Hannah  Rice 
Experience  Richardson 
Elizabeth  Roberts 
Mercy  Robinson 
Ann  Safford 
Elizabeth  Scott 
Eleanor  Smith  v 

Sarah  Story 
Hepzibah  Whipple 
Prudence  Whipple 
Wickwire 


After  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  the  military  line 
separating  the  district  of  Capt.  Elijah  Dewey's  West  Com- 
pany from  that  of  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson's  East  Company 
ran  north  and  south  over  Bennington  Hill.  Among  the 
old  historic  homesteads  of  these  districts  may  be  mentioned 
Parson  Dewey's  Parsonage  at  the  Centre,  built  in  1763, 
known  to-day  as  the  "E.  H.  Swift  Place,"  the  birthplace  of 
Mrs.  E.  H.  Swift  in  March,  1818.  The  Eldad  Dewey 
Mansion,  built  in  1775  on  West  Main  Street  in  Bennington, 
proved  a  refuge  for  settlers  fleeing  ahead  of  Burgoyne's 


218  The  Hoosac  Valley 

army  on  the  rainy  night  of  August  15, 1777,  before  the  Battle 
of  Bennington.  One  woman  begged  her  husband  to  flee 
for  safety,  but  he  heroically  replied  that  "she  and  his  children 
would  be  better  off  if  he  were  slain  on  the  field  than  to  have 
a  coward  for  a  husband  and  father."  The  reverse  was  also 
overheard  when  a  man  complained  of  a  severe  colic  to  his 
wife.  Her  woman's  wit  told  her  that  it  was  not  so  much 
colic  as  cowardice,  and  she  urged  him  bravely  forward. 

The  Elnathan  Hubbell  Mansion  was  built  in  1769.  After 
the  raising  of  the  huge  timbers,  Parson  Dewey  proposed  a 
wedding,  and  Joseph  Rudd  and  Sarah  Story  knelt  at  the 
rude  altar  and  were  pronounced  one.  The  Nathaniel  Fill- 
more house  stood  near  Hubbell  homestead,  where  Nathaniel 
Fillmore,  Jr.,  was  born.  He  migrated  to  western  New  York 
in  1800  and  became  the  father  of  Millard  Fillmore,  President 
of  the  United  States  in  1 850.  The  Joseph  Wickwire  house 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  lodge  house  of  James  Colgate  Park ; 
the  Phineas  Scott  house,  built  in  1776,  still  stands  a  mile 
west  of  the  Battle  Monument,  occupied  by  the  venerable 
granddaughters  of  the  builder.  The  "Crosier  Place,"  once 
the  Benjamin  Fay  homestead,  is  now  marked  by  poplar 
trees;  and  Lieut.  Samuel  Safford's  homestead  on  Main 
Street  in  East  Bennington  is  the  residence  of  William  R. 
Morgan,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Deacon  Joseph  Safford  of 
Bennington,  Parson  Cotton  Mather  of  Boston,  and  Col. 
William  Williams,  "Father  of  Pittsfield"  and  founder  of 
Bennington. 

Isaac  Tichenor  of  Newark,  N.J.  built  his  mansion  on  Mount 
Anthony  Road,  west  of  Capt.  Elijah  Dewey's  Walloomsac 
Inn,  in  1792,  and  his  portrait  still  graces  its  parlor  wall.  He 
was  graduated  from  Princeton  College  in  1775,  and  was,  in 
1777,  Deputy  Commissary  of  the  Provincial  Army  under 
Capt.  Jedidiah  Williams  of  Williamstown,  Mass.  Owing 
to  his  elegant  manners  and  fluent  speech,  he  was  known  by 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    219 

the  Green  Mountain  Boys  as  the  "Jersey  Slick/ '  He 
became  a  lawyer  and  was  subsequently  Governor  of  Vermont 
for  ten  successive  years,  dying  in  1838  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four.  The  bell  in  the  old  Congregational  Church  tower 
was  presented  in  memory  of  Parson  Absalom  Peters,  "  Father 
of  Home  Missions,"  by  the  venerable  Governor  Tichenor 
before  his  death. 

Gen.  David  Robinson's  homestead,  at  the  head  of  the 
Parade,  was  built  in  1796,  and  descended  to  the  late  George 
Wadsworth  Robinson — now  the  residence  of  his  son  and 
daughter.  The  mansion  contains  an  invaluable  collection 
of  Revolutionary  relics,  including  Col.  Frederick  Baum's 
sword  and  camp-kettle,  together  with  the  sword  and  con- 
tinental hat  worn  by  Gen.  David  Robinson  during  the  Battle 
of  Bennington. 

Three  out-lying  districts  in  Bennington  were  settled  pre- 
vious to  1777,  including  "  Irish  Corners,"  now  Riverside,  at 
Henry's  Bridge;  Haviland's  Mills,  known  later  as  "Sage's 
City,"  now  North  Bennington;  and  Safford's  Mills,  known 
later  as  Algiers  and  "Crow  Town,"  now  Bennington  Village. 

"Irish  Corners"  was  settled  in  1762  by  the  grandsons 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  pioneers  from  Coleraine  and  London- 
derry, who  landed  at  Boston  in  171 8,  including  Lieut. 
William  Henry,  a  kinsman  of  the  patriotic  Patrick  Henry  of 
Virginia,  Lieut.  James  Breakenridge,  the  Hendersons,  the 
Clarkes,  and  Col.  Seth  Warner.  The  Henry  and  Warner 
homesteads  were  raised  on  the  same  day  in  1 769 ;  the  Henry 
house  was  remodelled  during  1797,  and  the  Warner  house 
burned  fifty-four  years  ago;  and  Warner's  farm  is  known  as 
the  "  Gibbs's  Place."  The  Breakenridge  homestead  stood 
a  few  rods  east  of  the  Warner  house  and  descended  to  his 
grandson,  John  Breakenridge.  He  resided  there  until  it 
burned,  about  1884.  The  farm  is  known  to-day  as  the 
Michael  Leonard  Place. 


220  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  hamlet  of  Haviland's  Mills  was  settled  by  the  Tory, 
Joseph  Haviland.  He  owned  a  tract  of  the  Walloomsac 
Patent,  granted  in  1739,  which  overlapped  Bennington  on 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  considerably  east  of  the  Twenty- 
Mile  Line  to  Haviland  Brook,  now  Paran  Creek  in  North 
Bennington.  Haviland's  grist-mill  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Paran  Creek  grist-mill,  and  his  manorial  homestead 
occupied  the  site  between  the  residences  of  Franklin  Scott 
and  Albert  Hathaway.  About  1776,  Moses  Sage,  a  kinsman 
of  Russell  Sage,  the  late  financier,  and  James  Rogers  settled 
in  the  hamlet.  Young  Sage  married  the  Tory  miller's 
daughter. 

Before  the  Battle  of  Bennington,  the  Council  of  Safety 
sold  all  of  Tory  Haviland' s  manor  at  auction  to  Moses 
Robinson.  He  invited  settlers  after  the  Revolution,  and 
sold  the  land  to  William  Haviland,  Moses  Sage,  and  James 
Rogers.  He  signed  their  deeds  "Robinson,  Town  of  Ben- 
nington, Province  of  New  York,"  until  the  Vermont  Line 
was  confirmed  in  18 12.  The  present  Paran  Creek  grist- 
mill was  built  by  Edward  Welling  in  1833,  and  Haviland's 
millstone,  which  on  the  day  and  night  of  August  16,  1777, 
was  grinding  corn  for  Stark's  army,  is  now  doing  duty  as 
window-caps  on  Welling's  mill,  facing  the  car  line. 

Moses  Sage  founded  an  iron  forge  near  the  site  of  Lyons's 
knitting  mills,  the  first  in  Vermont,  after  which  the  hamlet 
of  Haviland's  Mills  became  known  as  "Sage's  City."  Iron 
ore  was  first  mined  at  the  foot  of  Shaft sbury  Mountain. 
When  this  source  of  supply  was  exhausted,  a  new  mine  was 
located  in  Captain  Shields's  District  in  East  Bennington  and 
Woodford,  where  Moses  Sage  and  his  son-in-law,  Giles  Olin, 
set  up  a  blast  furnace,  about  1804. 

Shaftsbury  was  chartered  by  Gov.  Benning  Wentworth  to 
several  Rhode  Island  settlers  in  1761,  including  Dr.  Daniel 
Huntington,    George    Niles,    and    other    staunch    Whigs. 

1  Also  Shaftsbury. 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    221 

George  Niles,  parent  of  the  White  Creek  Niles  family,  lived 
to  be  one  hundred  and  fourteen  years  old.  Upon  his  century 
birthday  he  took  a  scythe  and  mowed  a  swath  in  the  meadow, 
after  which  he  stood  erect  and  said  to  his  sons:  "There,  boys, 
is  a  pattern  for  you!"  He  was  the  local  historian,  and  rich 
in  legends  of  past  generations.  He  descended  from  Old 
Jonathan  and  Dame  Niles,  the  parents  of  fourteen  sons,  who 
settled  in  Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1636.  The  Tory  Elder, 
Benjamin  Hough,  first  minister  of  the  Shaft sbury  Baptist 
Church,  founded  in  1768,  was  punished  with  the  "  Twigs 
of  the  Wilderness"  after  the  Battle  of  Bennington  and 
banished. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Pownal  Centre  was  founded 
by  Rhode  Island  Whigs,  and  among  the  founders  were  Dr. 
Caleb  Gibbs,  Elder  Benajah  Grover,  and  others.  Elder 
Caleb  Nichols  of  the  Exeter  Separate  Church  was  installed 
first  minister  in  1788;  and  Captain  Ovitt  built  the  meeting- 
house in  1789,  remodelled  as  the  Union  Church  to-day. 
Elder  Nichols  died  in  1804,  and  upon  his  monument  in  the 
burial-field  north  of  the  church  is  inscribed : 

Sacred  to  the  memory  of  faithful  service  as  a  Minister 
and  Watchman  over  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Pownal. 

The  Scotch- Irish,  led  by  Elder  Freeborn  Garret  son, 
founded  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  in  Benning- 
ton in  1792,  although  their  meeting-house  was  not  dedicated 
until  1833  by  the  Rev.  Buel  Goodsell.  During  1834,  Strict 
Congregationalism  was  disestablished  in  New  England,  and 
Deacon  Joseph  Hinsdill  of  the  First  Church  of  Bennington 
and  several  members  of  Calvin's  Society  separated  from  the 
Old  Church  and  built  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  at  Hins- 
dillville  in  1838,  now  owned  by  the  Methodist  Society. 

Among  the  historic  tavern  stands  of  Bennington  may  be 
mentioned  John   Fassett's   Tavern,  built   in    1762.     Capt. 


222 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Elijah  Dewey,  eldest  son  of  Parson  Dewey,  built  the  Wal- 
loomsac  Inn  in  1 766.  It  is  the  oldest  tavern  to-day  in  Vermont 
and  has  been  doing  duty  for  over  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
years.     Stephen   Fay   from   Hardwick,   Mass.,  also  built 


^MKmljM 


The  Walloomsac  Inn,  built  in  1766  by  Landlord  Elijah  Dewey,  eldest  son  of 
Parson  Jedidiah  Dewey,  First  Minister  of  the  Old  First  Church,  which  stood  east 
of  Dewey's  Inn.  Landlord  Dewey  was  Captain  of  the  West  Bennington  Com- 
pany in  the  Battle  of  Bennington.  The  Walloomsac  Inn  is  the  oldest  inn  to-day 
in  Vermont.  It  has  been  doing  duty  as  a  tavern  for  over  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  years. 


the  Green  Mountain  Inn  in  1766.  It  became  a  rallying 
place  for  Captain  Fassett's  Company  of  Green  Mountain 
Boys,  organized  in  1764.  On  May  14,  1766,  it  was  decided 
to  lay  out  the  Parade,  and  three  acres  were  voted  to  widen 
Main  Street  between  the  First  Church  and  Deacon  Samuel 
Safford's  Mansion,  on  the  present  site  of  Battle  Monument 
Park.  A  huge  catamount  was  stuffed  and  mounted  twenty- 
five  feet  high  on  the  sign-post  of  Fay's  Green  Mountain 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    223 

Inn,  and  it  became  known  as  the  famous  "  Catamount 
Tavern."  The  quaint  hip-roofed  building  burned  in  1871, 
and  on  its  site  now  stands  a  granite  pedestal,  surmounted 


The  Harmon  Inn,  built  by  Sergt.  Daniel  Harmon  before  the  Revolution.  It 
is  known  as  the  "  Old  Yellow  House  "  and  is  located  two  miles  west  of  the  Battle 
Monument,  near  New  York  Line.  Gen.  John  Stark  and  his  officers  are  reported 
to  have  breakfasted  at  Harmon's  Inn  on  their  march  down  the  Walloomsac  to 
meet  Colonel  Baum's  Army,  August  13,  1777. 

by  a  bronze  figure  of  a  grinning  catamount,  facing  west- 
ward toward  the  Yorkers. 

The  Hendrick  Schneider  Tavern  on  Schneiders  Patent, 
New  York,  was  built  over  two  miles  west  of  the  site  of  the 
First  Church  of  Bennington  in  the  spring  of  1762.  Later 
Col.  Samuel  Herrick  ran  the  place,  and  General  Stark  and  his 
army  encamped  in  the  field  east  of  Herrick 's  Inn,  between  Au- 
gust 9th  and  13th,  1777,  previous  to  the  Battle  of  Bennington. 
Herrick's  Tavern  was  later  known  as  Dimmick's  Stand,  now 


224  The  Hoosac  Valley 

the  site  of  the  residence  of  Otis  Warren,  a  descendant  of 
Dr.  John  Warren,  who  married  a  granddaughter  of  Hen- 
drick  Schneider.  The  Harwood  Tavern  was  built  by  Zac- 
hariah  Harwood  on  the  site  of  the  Battle  Monument,  known 
later  as  Jonathan  Robinson's  State  Arms  House.  It  con- 
tained a  "copious  magazine* *  of  the  Provincial  Army  in 
1777,  guarded  by  Capt.  Eli  Nobles's  Company  of  Pownal 
Boys.  The  Harmon  Inn,  known  to-day  as  the  "Old  Yellow 
House,"  two  miles  west  of  the  Battle  Monument,  was  built 
by  Sergt.  Daniel  Harmon  before  the  Revolution.  General 
Stark,  August  13,  1777,  breakfasted  at  this  tavern  on  his 
march  down  the  Walloomsac  to  his  North  Farm  encampment. 
The  gaping  windows  and  front  door  reveal  quaint  fireplaces 
and  a  stairway  unchanged  except  by  ravages  of  time.  The 
Walbridge  homestead  at  Walbridgeville  and  Tory  Matthews's 
State  Line  Tavern  were  built  after  the  Revolution,  about 
1783.  The  portraits  of  Landlord  Matthews  and  his  wife 
formerly  hung  upon  the  parlor  wall.  They  were  loaned  for 
an  Historical  Exhibition,  and  never  returned  to  Charles 
B.  Allen,  the  present  proprietor  of  the  place. 

Several  inns  stood  between  Bennington  Centre  and 
Pownal  Centre  before  the  Revolution.  Billings's  Tavern 
was  built  by  Maj.  Samuel  Billings  on  the  Old  Road  south  of 
The  Poplars,  known  later  as  Lon  Wagner's  Inn  and  the 
"Old  Yellow  House"  until  it  was  burned  a  few  years  ago. 
The  Brush  Tavern,  east  of  the  site  of  Billings's  Tavern,  was 
built  by  Nathaniel  Brush,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Vermont 
Volunteers.  It  is  known  to-day  as  the  "Nichols  Place," 
the  residence  of  Samuel  Jewett,  owner  of  the  serpentine 
Jewett  Brook.  The  Mallery  Tavern,  a  mile  north  of  Pownal 
Centre  Green,  was  built  by  Whittum  Mallery  and  was  sub- 
sequently known  as  the  Timothy  Munson  Stand.  The 
Pownal  Centre  Tavern,  south  of  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
now  Union  Church,  is  similar  to  Col.  Benjamin  Simonds's 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington   225 

River  Bend  Tavern  in  Williamstown.  It  was  probably 
built  by  his  son-in-law,  Ithamar  Clark.  Here  his  son, 
"Billa"  J.  Clark,  dispensed  cider  brandy  over  the  bar  to  the 
Pownal  bumpkins  until  he  became  disgusted  with  his  occu- 


• 

fr-:-..;^«, , 

it      D 

titm 

The  State  Line  Tavern  built  by  the  Tory  Matthews  about  1783  is  located  in 
three  towns:  White  Creek  and  Hoosac  in  Rensselaer  and  Washington  Counties  in 
New  York  State;  and  the  town  of  Shaftsbury  in  Bennington  County  in  the  State 
of  Vermont.  The  historic  inn  is  now  the  residence  of  Charles  B.  Allen,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Gen.  Ira  Allen,  nephew  and  adopted  son  of  Ira  Allen,  Secretary  of 
the  famous  Council  of  Safety  held  at  the  Catamount  Tavern  during  the  Revolution. 

pation  and  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Caleb  Gibbs.  He 
later  moved  to  Moreau,  N.  Y.,  where,  in  1801,  he  founded  the 
first  Temperance  Society  in  the  United  States  and  later 
organized  the  Saratoga  Medical  Society,  the  first  in  the  State 
of  New  York.  The  Clark  Tavern  was  afterwards  known 
as  Willard  Bates's  Inn,  now  the  Barber  Thompson  Place. 
The  Daniel  Kimball  Inn,  on  the  corner  of  the  Centre  and 
North  Pownal  roads,  was  built  at  a  much  later  day  and  has 
been  occupied  by  the  successive  town  clerks  for  nearly  three 
is 


226  The  Hoosac  Valley 

quarters  of  a  century.  The  Pownal  Charter,  signed  by 
Governor  Wentworth  in  1760,  is  the  most  ancient  document 
on  file  in  the  iron  safe  built  into  the  fireplace  of  the  south 
room  of  the  inn. 

A  weekly  letter  post  was  established  between  Boston, 
Hartford,  Salisbury,  Williamstown,  and  Bennington  as  early 
as  1763,  and  Gov.  Thomas  Chittenden  of  Vermont  organized 
a  regular  postal  service  between  Albany  and  Boston  to 
Bennington,  Rutland,  Newbury,  Brattleboro,  and  Windsor 
in  1 783  and  1 784.  Anthony  Haswell  came  from  Portsmouth, 
Eng.,  in  1756.  He  was  appointed  postmaster-general  in 
1784.  The  post-office  was  located  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Battle  Monument,  in  the  same  building  as  the  office  of  The 
Vermont  Gazette,  which  he  edited.  The  printer,  Nathaniel 
Russell,  issued  the  first  copy  of  The  Vermont  Gazette,  June  5, 
1783.  It  was  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Vermont  as 
well  as  in  the  Hoosac  Valley,  and  Haswell's  grandsons  con- 
tinued to  publish  the  paper  for  sixty-seven  years,  until  1849, 
when  it  changed  hands  and  was  issued  under  its  present  title, 
The  Bennington  Banner. 

Among  the  schools  of  Revolutionary  days  may  be  men- 
tioned Clio  Hall,  incorporated  November  3,  1780,  and  built  on 
the  corner  south  of  the  First  Church.  It  was  opened  under 
the  rectorship  of  Eldad  Dewey,  Jr.,  a  grandson  of  Parson  Jedi- 
diah  Dewey.  The  most  distinguished  pupil  was  Zephaniah 
Swift  Moore,  a  son  of  Judah  Moore  of  Wilmington,  Vt. 
He  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1797  and  became 
President  of  Williams  College  between  181 5  and  1821. 
Clio  Hall  for  boys  burned  in  1803.  Elinor  Read,  a  daughter 
of  the  famous  missionary -author,  Read,  from  Chelsea,  Mass., 
opened  a  school  for  girls  in  1802  in  the  house  south  of  the 
Brick  Academy.  The  Legislature  in  1787  divided  the  towns 
of  the  Green  Mountain  State  into  school  districts.  At  the 
opening  of  1807  there  were  twenty -five  grammar  schools  and 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington   227 

academies  incorporated  in  Vermont,  including  the  Scientific 
and  Literary  School  established  at  North  Bennington  in 
1805  by  William  S.  Crandall,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College. 
One  of  the  distinguished  pupils  proved  to  be  Col.  Olin  Scott 
of  Bennington. 

Safford's  Mills,  now  Bennington  Village,  contained  less 
than  twenty  buildings  in  1804  between  Eldad  Dewey's 
house  and  Safford's  Mill.  The  cabinet-maker,  John  Rich- 
mond, opened  a  shop  and  christened  the  settlement  "Al- 
giers." He  had  been  a  sailor  on  a  trading  vessel  off  the  coast 
of  Africa  before  the  War  of  Algiers.  Stark's  Inn  was  built 
about  the  same  time  near  Searls's  tailor-shop  and  Stephen 
Pratt's  house  on  Main  Street  and  Captain  Hill's  Crow  Tavern 
at  Hunt  Place.  A  maple  grove  occupied  the  banks  of  the 
Walloomsac,  where  crows  assembled  to  hold  their  councils  of 
safety,  from  which  arose  the  name  "Crow  Town"  for  the 
hamlet.  The  Councils  of  Safety  of  the  Green  Mountain 
Boys  met  at  Crow  Tavern  during  the  War  of  18 12  and  until 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War  in  1865. 

Thomas  W.  Trenor  arrived  in  Bennington  during  181 1  and 
purchased  the  blast  furnace  and  iron  works  of  Moses  Sage 
and  Giles  Olin.  Sage  moved  to  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
built  the  first  blast  furnace  in  that  State.  Trenor  was  origin- 
ally a  ship-builder  in  Dublin  and  treasurer  of  the  Society 
of  United  Irishmen.  He  and  other  members  were  arrested, 
July,  12,  1798,  at  Oliver  Bond's  house  on  Lower  Bridge 
Street,  and  lodged  in  Dublin  Castle.  All  were  hanged  except 
Trenor,  who  made  his  escape  disguised  as  a  dead  man  in  a 
coffin.  After  locating  in  Bennington  he  built  his  homestead 
in  Furnace  Grove,  to-day  known  as  the  "Shield  Place,"  and 
felled  the  forest  about  Camp  Comfort  and  Trenor  Meadow,  in 
the  Glastonbury  and  Woodford  passes,  to  feed  his  yawning 
furnaces.  The  blacksmith,  Captain  Frye,  Caleb  More, 
Matthew  and  Zerah  Scott  settled  later  at  "Trenor  Mead- 


228  The  Hoosac  Valley 

ows."  Woodford,  although  chartered  in  1753,  remained 
a  dense  forest  dotted  with  lakes  until  Thomas  W.  Trenor  and 
J.  S.  Hollister  developed  the  iron,  clay,  and  ochre  industries 
at  "Woodford  City."  Luther  and  Cynthia  Pratt-Park 
were  also  among  the  first  proprietors  and  named  their  son 
Trenor  W.  Park,  after  Thomas  W.  Trenor.  He  was  destined 
to  become  a  distinguished  jurist  in  California,  and  accumu- 
lated a  vast  fortune.  He  returned  later  to  his  native  Wal- 
loomsac  Valley. 

At  the  time  the  dam  of  the  first  furnace  was  built  in 
"Woodford  City,"  the  horns  of  an  elk  weighing  sixty  pounds 
were  unearthed,  proving  that  at  some  remote  period  both 
elk  and  moose  roamed  through  the  Green  Mountain  passes, 
where  now  wander  the  deer. 

After  the  advent  of  Trenor  in  Algiers  Village  in  181 1  the 
population  increased.  The  tailor,  Faxon,  opened  a  shop  near 
Eldad  Dewey's  homestead;  Captain  Abell  and  Jos.  Norton 
operated  cider  brandy  distilleries,  and  the  latter  opened  a 
pottery  and  manufactured  churns,  butter-jars,  and  other 
earthern  wares.  Sandford  and  Brown  established  the  first 
foundry  in  the  State,  on  the  present  site  of  Henry  W. 
Putnam's  grist-mill,  and  Buckley  Squires  built  the  stone 
blacksmith's  shop  still  in  use  to-day. 

After  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of  18 12,  the  grandsons  of 
the  veterans  of  the  Battle  of  Bennington  faced  the  British 
at  Plattsburgh,  on  Lake  Champlain.  The  cannonading  was 
faintly  heard  by  the  Benningtonians  in  18 14,  but  the  peace 
of  the  Walloomsac  and  Hoosac  was  not  disturbed,  and  hos- 
tilities closed  in  18 15. 

One  of  the  oldest  marked  tombstones  in  English  Hoosac 
is  that  of  Jan  C.  N.  Lon,  located  in  the  centre  of  the  front 
tier  of  graves  in  the  Pownal  Centre  Burial-field.  He  was 
buried  in  1742,  eighteen  years  before  the  town  was  chartered 
to  the  English  in   1760.     Lon  was  a  Dutch  burgher  and 


Samuel  Robinson  and  Historic  Bennington    229 

evidently  a  kinsman  of  Landlord  Lon  Wagner  of  Billings's 
Tavern. 

In  the  Bennington  Burial-field,  east  of  the  First  Church, 
lies  the  historic  dust  of  the  founders  of  the  Green  Mountain 
Republic,  including  four  of  the  governors :  Moses  Robinson, 
John  Robinson,  Isaac  Tichenor,  and  Hiland  Hall.  Near  the 
tomb  of  Isaac  Tichenor  is  located  the  grave  of  John  Van  Der 
Speigal,  the  Dutch  inventor  of  stoves  and  furnaces;  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  cemetery  may  be  observed  a  granite  pedes- 
tal reared  by  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  to  mark  the 
last  resting  place  of  the  wounded  Hessian  prisoners  who  died 
after  the  Battle  of  Bennington.  The  epitaph  of  Parson 
Jedidiah  Dewey,  first  minister  of  Bennington,  attracts  the 
wonder  of  hero  worshippers.  He  was  a  Shakespearean 
scholar,  and  his  favorite  and  oft-quoted  lines  from  a  scene 
of  Richard  II. ,  were  chiselled  upon  his  tombstone: 

Let  rs  talk  of  graves,  of  worms,  and  Epitaphs; 
Make  dust  our  paper,  and  with  rainy  eyes 
Write  sorrow  on  the  bosom  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  XI 

OLD  HOOSAC  FALLS  AND   PETERSBURGH   NEIGHBORHOOD 

I759-I8I5 

The  thousand  changes  that  thicken  along  the  links  of  recollection,  throw  back 
the  origin  of  the  nation  to  a  day  so  distant  as  seemingly  to  reach  the  mists  of  time. 

James  Fenimore  Cooper,  The  Deerslayer. 

German  Lutheran  Church — Schneider  Patent — Witchcraft — Col.  Francis  J.  Van 
Pfister's  White  House  Manor — Kreigger  Rocks — Breese,  Pool,  and  Fonda 
Neighborhood — Rensselaer's  Mills — Little  Hoosac — Nepimore — Maple- 
ton — Falls  Quequick — St.  Croix — Pesth  and  Walloomsac  Hamlets — 
Military  Districts — Invasion  of  British,  1777 — Town-Meetings,  1789 — 
Inns — Slaves — Baptist,  Methodist,  and  Adventist  Churches — Peters- 
burgh — Grafton — Berlin — Tibbits's  Mansion  of  Hoosac — War  of  18 12 — 
Militia. 

AFTER  the  Fall  of  Quebec  the  Dutch  Patroons  of  Hoosac 
and  Rensselaerwyck  rebuilt  their  manorial  buildings 
and  invited  a  mixed  tenantry.  The  Brunswick  Colony  of 
German  Lutherans,  located  in  the  Hoosacs'  Lake  District 
of  Rensselaerwyck  in  1760,  included  the  staunch  names: 
Benn,  Coon,  Clum,  Cropsey,  Cross,  Frett,  Fischer,  File, 
Goeway,  Hayner,  Hardwick,  Muller,  Oothout,  Van  Arnam, 
Watson,  and  Quackenbosch. 

Several  of  these  Germans  settled  later  about  the  junction 
of  the  Hoosac  with  the  Little  Hoosac,  and  they  founded  the 
first  Lutheran  Church1  during  the  Revolution  on  the  south- 
east corner  of  Hoosac  Road,  east  of  Petersburgh  Four 
Corners.  The  late  Daniel  Brimmer,  as  a  child  of  seven, 
attended  school  in  the  old  meeting-house  in  1805,  taught 

1 A  Dutch  Reformed  Church. 

230 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        231 

by  Mrs.  Thurber  and  Miss  Davis.  Many  unmarked  graves 
were  located  around  and  beneath  the  church,  all  traces  of 
which  were  levelled  by  the  plough  over  half  a  century  ago. 

The  Old  Dutch  Church  remained  the  only  place  of  public 
worship  for  the  homesteaders  of  Hoosac  and  Rensselaerwyck 
until  long  after  the  War  of  18 12.  The  family  Bible  of  Oldert 
Onderkirk  of  Fort  Half-Moon,  traditionally  printed  in  1636, 
descended  to  Jacob  Onderkirk,  occupying  the  farm,  now 
known  as  the  C.E.  Stockwell  Place,  a  mile  north  of  the  "White 
House  Bridge."  It  is  the  oldest  known  Bible  in  Hoosac  Val- 
ley, and  half  a  century  ago  descended  to  Mrs.  C.  W.  Brown 
of  Hoosac  Falls,  a  granddaughter  of  the  Dutch  burgher, 
Jacob  Onderkirk,  and  the  English  pilgrim,  Elijah  Wallace. 

Several  Dutch  and  German  tenants  of  Rensselaerwyck 
"squatted"  in  Pownal  on  N.  H.  Grants  between  1724  and 
1 760,  including :  Hogg  and  Voseburgh  (Vose)  families  on  the 
site  of  Green  Brimmer  farm;  Best  on  the  Ichobod  Paddock 
and  Silas  Eldred  farms;  Bastian  Van  Deel,  Petrus  Bovie, 
and  Pitt  Van  Hogleboom  later  on  the  Voseburgh  farm, 
known  to-day  as  the  Thomas  Brownell  Place  near  the  State 
Line  Bridge.  Juria  Kreigger  settled  north  of  Kreigger  Rocks 
at  North  Pownal  and  built  a  grist-mill  near  the  site  of  the 
Silas  Paddock  residence.  The  Van  Norman,  Westenhouse, 
and  Varin  families  settled  later  in  Kreigger  neighborhood; 
and  the  Fischer,  Anderson,  and  Young  families  located  at 
Three  Corners  and  "Weeping  Rocks"  farther  up  the  valley. 

Daniel  Brimmer  remembered  Juria  Kreigger  in  1805  as 
a  brick-burner  and  miller.  In  1760,  when  Pownal  was 
chartered  to  the  English,  Henry  Young,  Schorel  Marters 
Watson,  Long  Andries,  John  Spencer,  the  Devoet  and  Van 
Arnam  families  resided  east  of  the  adopted  New  York  Line 
in  New  England. 

Hendrick  Schneider  (Snyder)  of  New  Lebanon  Flats,  a  part 
of  Stephentown,  N.  Y.,  together  with  John  Watteck,  Hendrick 


232  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Lake,  John  Johnson,  Garret  Williamson,  Nathaniel  Archerly, 
Benjamin  Abbott,  William  Taylor,  Martinus  Voorheres  of 
New  Jersey,  and  Daniel  Hellenbeck  of  Albany,  petitioned 
Governor  De  Lancey,  July  8,  1761,  for  10,000  acres  lying  east 
of  Hoosac  Patent,  extending  from  Rensselaerwyck  northward 
to  the  Walloomsac  Patent.  Schneider's  Patent  was  con- 
firmed by  Lieut.  Governor  Colden,  March  24,  1762,  and 
Schneider  proved  the  first  settler.  The  Patent  was  bounded 
on  the  east  by  " other  vacant  lands,"  as  Lieut.  Governor 
Colden  denied  the  validity  of  Governor  Went  worth's  char- 
ters of  the  English  towns  of  Bennington  and  Pownal. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Capt.  Seth  Hudson,  Gent.,  and  other 
proprietors  of  Pownal,  a  meeting  was  held  in  June,  1760, 
when  it  was  voted  to  grant  the  Dutch  miller,  Kreigger, 
"one  right."  His  son,  Hans  Kreigger,  died  five  years  later, 
and  the  "  intollerable  inquisitiveness "  and  "  unparalleled 
volluability "  of  the  Rhode  Island  Baptists  charged  widow 
Kreigger  with  witchcraft.  She  was  allowed  the  choice  of 
two  tests  to  prove  her  innocence.  She  could  choose  between 
climbing  a  tree  or  being  immersed  through  the  ice  in  the 
river.  If  upon  felling  the  tree  or  upon  sinking  to  the  river 
bottom,  she  was  not  killed  outright,  she  was  promised  her 
freedom.  She  chose  the  latter  test  as  the  safer  and  was 
finally  recovered  from  drowning.  The  verdict  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  was  that:  "If  widow  Kreigger  had  been  a 
witch,  the  powers  infernal  would  have  supported  her." 
Her  three  sons,  John,  Peter,  and  William  Kreigger,  were 
invited  by  the  Williamstown  proprietors,  October  15,  1767, 
to  build  a  grist-mill  near  the  junction  of  Hopper  Brook  with 
Green  River.  They  intermarried  with  the  Young  and 
Deeming  families  and  became  members  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Williamstown. 

After  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  many 
British  officers  and  soldiers  drew  military  grants.     The  Tory, 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh       233 

Francis  J.  Van  Pfister,1  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  His 
Majesty's  Sixtieth  Regiment  of  Foot,  September  18,  1760,  by 
Gen.  Jeffrey  Amherst,  drew  2000  acres  in  Nepimore  Vale. 
He  built  his  "White  House  " 2  near  the  present  site  of  Tibbits's 
lodge,  west  of  the  " White  House  Bridge."  Several  other 
officers  received  grants  overlapping  Bennington  and  Shafts- 
bury  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants. 

Seventeen  homesteaders  of  Hoosac  and  Rensselaerwyck 
manors  resided  between  Van  Pfister's  "  White  House"  and 
the  junction  of  the  Hoosacs  in  1767.  Jacob  Onderkirk,  a 
staunch  Whig,  resided  a  mile  north  of  Tory  Van  Pfister's 
manor;  and  John  Quackenbosch,  Pieter  Ostrander,  William 
Helling,  John  Potter,  John  Palmer,  Benjamin  Walworth, 
Harper  Rogers,  John  Ryan,  Randall,  James,  and  Samuel  Cot- 
terel  resided  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  at  Hoosac  Four 
Corners  and  Mapleton.  Johannes  De  Fonda,  Jan  Huyck, 
the  Knott,  Robert,  and  other  families  resided  at  the  base  of 
De  Fonda  Hill,  east  of  Barnardus  Bratt's  Mansion,  near  the 
site  of  Petersburgh  Station;  and  the  Van  Derrick  manor, 
half  a  mile  south  of  Bratt's,  was  occupied  by  the  Letchers', 
known  later  as  Joseph  Case  Place,  now  the  Edward  Green 
estate. 

The  Breese  and  Pool  neighborhood,  known  as  Rens- 
selaers'  Mills  during  the  Revolution,  was  located  partly  on 
Hoosac  and  partly  on  Rensselaerwyck  manors.  Henry 
Breese  from  Greenbush  built  the  Old  Red  Store  in  1766, 
opposite  Cornelius  Letcher's  Tavern,  now  the  site  of  Eldred's 
Inn.  Other  tenantry  of  the  hamlet  included:  Hendrick 
Letcher,  Johannes  De  Ruyter,  Petrus  and  Hans  Bachus, 
Johannes  McCagg,  Hans  Lautman,  Barent  Hogg,  Johannes 
George  Brimmer,  and  Jacob  Best. 

1  Cuyler  Reynolds,  Albany  Chronicles,  p.  264. 

2  The  White  House  Manor  originally  belonged  to  the  Schuylers.  It  de- 
scended to  Colonel  Van  Pfister,  who  married  a  daughter  of  the  Schuylers. 


234 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Peter  Simons,  chief  farm-master  of  Rensselaerwyck,  Jacob 
O.  Cropsey,  and  Godfrey  Brimmer  located  on  the  upper 
Little  Hoosac  in  Berlin  about  1765.     Brimmer  built  a  log- 


Eldred  Inn,  on  the  site  of  the  Cornelius  Letcher  Tavern,  where  the  first  Town- 
Meeting  of  Petersburgh  was  held,  during  Landlord  Hezekiah  Coon's  proprietor- 
ship, in  March,  1791.  The  Letcher  Tavern  was  built  about  1766,  when  the 
hamlet  of  Petersburgh  Four  Corners  was  known  as  the  Breese  and  Pool  Neigh- 
borhood. During  Revolutionary  days  it  bore  the  designation  of  Rensselaers' 
Mills,  until  incorporated  Petersburgh  in  honor  of  Palroon  Van  Rensselaer's 
chief  farm-master,  Peter  Simons,  in  1791. 


cabin  and  shingled  it  with  bark.  He  used  linen-tow  and 
oiled  paper  for  window  panes  and  carpeted  his  earthern 
floor  with  moonshine  and  ferns.  Simons' s  and  Cropsey 's 
farms  occupied  the  present  site  of  the  Daniel  Hull  farm. 
Between  1767  and  the  Battle  of  Bennington,  Peter  Simons's 
Road  led  over  Cherry  Plains  to  the  Patroons'  Mills  at  East 
Greenbush.  At  that  time  the  Milk,  Berry,  and  Douglass 
families  resided  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  Tory,  Reuben 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh       235 

Bonesteel,  and  his  six  sons,  three  of  whom  were  Whigs, 
located  near  Godfrey  Brimmer's  farm  in  Berlin  Hollow. 

Daniel  Hull  and  Paul  Braman  arrived  in  1770  from  Con- 
necticut, and  were  the  first  English  settlers  in  Little  Hoosac. 
They  were  followed  by  Joseph  Green  in  Green  Hollow,  a 
descendant  of  the  Quaker,  Gen.  Nathaniel  Green  of  Warwick, 
R.  I.,  who  drove  the  British  from  Boston;  Colonel  Bentley, 
Thomas  Sweet,  Daniel  and  James  Dennison,  Nathaniel 
Niles,  Peleg  Thomas,  Simeon  Himes,  Joseph  Whitford,  and 
William  Satterlee — pastor  of  the  Seventh  Day  Baptist 
Church — and  Dr.  John  Forbes. 

The  Breese  and  Pool  neighborhoods  of  Rensselaers'  Mills 
were  settled  by  Presbyterians,  Baptists  of  the  Warren 
Society, and  Adventists  of  the  Hopkinton  Society,  including: 
Simeon  Odell,  Tory  Dayfoot  and  his  six  sons  in  East  Hollow, 
Stanton  Bailey,  Abraham  and  Augustus  Lewis  in  Lewis 
Hollow,  William  Reynolds,  Ichobod  Prosser,  Stephen  Card, 
Gideon  Clark,  William  Hiscox,  Joseph  Allen,  James  Weaver, 
and  others.  After  the  Battle  of  Bennington  Patroon  Van 
Rensselaer  built  a  grist-mill  on  the  site  of  the  present  mill 
in  South  Petersburgh,  and  another  half  a  mile  above  the 
junction  of  the  Hoosacs  on  the  Alvin  Brimmer  farm  in  North 
Petersburgh. 

The  Cornelius  Letcher  Tavern  on  the  site  of  the  Eldred 
Inn,  and  John  Woodburn  Tavern  on  the  site  of  William 
Reynolds's  residence,  were  the  famous  hostelries  of  the  North 
Village  of  Rensselaers'  Mills  during  the  Revolution.  An  inn 
on  the  site  of  the  Aaron  Worthington  Tavern  in  the  South 
Village,  and  the  Daniel  Hull  Tavern  in  Little  Hoosac,  now 
Berlin,  proved  the  headquarters  for  the  Little  Hoosac  militia. 

The  Rensselaer  and  Hoosac  military  districts  were  organ- 
ized, March  24,  1772.  The  boundary  between  Old  Hoosac 
and  Old  Cambridge  military  districts  in  Walloomsac  Valley 
remained  indefinite  until  after  the  organization  of  the  town- 


236 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


ships  in  1789.  The  Scotch-Irish  settlers  of  St.  Croix,  Pesth, 
Walloomsac,  and  Falls  Quequick  in  Hoosac  District  included : 
Deacons  Waldo  and  Goff,  Maj.  John  Potter,  Ephraim  James, 
Samuel  Clarke,  John  McClung,  George  Duncan,  William 
Gilmore,   William   Eager,   William  Selfrage,   Samuel  Ball, 


The  Old  Red  Mill  of  Little  Hoosac  Valley.      The  Mill  is  located  midway  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  villages  of  Petersburgh,  and  was  probably 
built  during  the  Second  Revolutionary  days  of  1812. 

John  Scott,  David  Sprague,  Seth  Chase,  John  Harrow, 
Thomas  McCool,  Simeon  Fowler,  John  Young,  Josiah 
Dewey,  John  Rhodes,  and  the  Buell  and  Beebe  families. 

In  1772,  Elder  William  Waite  and  Deacons  Waldo  and 
GofT  from  Rhode  Island  founded  the  First  Baptist  Church 
at  Waite' s  Corners  near  St.  Croix.  The  members  included : 
Samuel  Hodge,  Peter  Sur  Dam,  Obadiah  and  Levi  Beardsley, 
Isaac  Bull,  Mr.  Biglow,  Francis  Bennett,  Simeon  Sweet, 
Thomas  Sickles,  and  John  Corey.     The  latter  was  a  soldier 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        237 

at  Fort  Massachusetts  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Baptist 
Elder,  William  Corey,  of  London,  known  as  the  "  Father 
of  British  Foreign  Missions,"  and  founder  of  a  Christian 
colony  in  India  in  1798.  Deacons  Waldo  and  Goff  objected 
to  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred  and  in  1805  moved  to  the  Ohio 
Valley  to  found  a  new  church  and  sing  new  tunes. 

The  Nepimore  Vale,  now  known  as  "Shingle  Hollow,"  was 
first  settled  by  the  hunter-scout,  Joseph  Guile,  Samuel  Still- 
well,  Thomas  Brown,  David  Case,  Jonathan  Mosely,  and 
Silas  Harrington.  Once  a  Schaghticoke  warrior  attempted 
to  scalp  Guile,  but  lost  his  own  life.  Guile  died  in  1809, 
the  same  year  that  Nathaniel  Bumppo-Schipman,  known  as 
the  hunter-scout,  "  Leather-Stocking,"  died  at  Falls  Que- 
quick.  Guile's  grave  by  the  roadside  near  the  site  of  his 
log  cottage  is  marked  by  two  moss-grown  boulders. 

The  Falls  Quequick  manor  of  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt, 
New  York  City,  contained  a  tract  seven  miles  long  by  three 
and  a  half  miles  wide,  having  The  Falls  as  its  centre.  The 
course  of  Hoosac  Falls  forms  a  perfect  letter  "S,"  as  the  river 
descends  through  the  rocky  gorge  originally  adorned  with 
pine  and  oak.  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  and  Augustus 
Van  Home,  heirs  of  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  leased  Jona- 
than Fuller  the  first  farm  on  the  manor  in  1772  for  twenty- 
one  years.  Isaac  Turner  and  Joel  Abbott  from  New  London, 
Ct.,  later  located  at  The  Falls  and  opened  a  store  and  black- 
smith shop.  Fuller's  farm  contained  two  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  on  the  east  bank.  It  began  at  a  marked  birch 
tree  below  The  Falls  and  extended  south  to  a  point  near 
J.  R.  Parsons's  residence.  It  covered  the  site  of  the  present 
village  of  Hoosac  Falls. 

Jonathan  Fuller  died  in  1790  and  the  sea-captain,  Henry 
Northrup  from  Rhode  Island  purchased  his  farm.  Fuller's 
log  house  still  stood  on  the  north  end  of  his  farm  near  the 
site  of  C.  A.  Cheney's  residence,  when  Captain  Northrup 


238  The  Hoosac  Valley 

built  his  log  house  on  the  hill  overlooking  Falls  Quequick. 
A  lane,  opening  near  the  site  of  Wood's  Block,  lead  to  Capt- 
ain Northrup's  cottage.  He  died  in  1797  and  the  "  God's 
Acre"  of  Fuller  and  Northrup  proved  the  first  burial-field 
within  the  limits  of  Hoosac  Falls  Village.  Judge  Levi 
Chandler  Ball  purchased  the  Northrup  Farm  in  1833  and 
recorded  in  his  Annals  of  Hoosac  that  he  found  several 
unmarked  graves,  fruit  trees,  and  stone  walls  near  the  site 
of  Fuller's  and  Northrup's  dwellings.  At  the  opening  of 
1800,  Henry  Barnhart  also  owned  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  on  the  east  bank  of  Hoosac  Falls,  west  of  the  present 
Main  Street. 

The  patroons  of  Dutch  Hoosac  manorlands  during  the 
Revolution  included :  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  of  Rensselaer- 
wyck,  born  in  New  York  City  in  1764;  Barnardus  Bratt, 
known  as  the  "  Patroon  of  Hoosac" ;  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt 
and  Augustus  Van  Home  of  Falls  Quequick ;  Garret  Cornelius 
Van  Ness  of  St.  Croix,  and  Philip  Van  Ness  of  Tioshoke. 
Their  sons  and  daughters  inherited  thousand-acre  farms, 
located  along  both  banks  of  the  Hoosac,  between  the  Owl 
Kill  and  the  headwaters  of  Little  Hoosac.  Young  Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer's  Manor  of  Rensselaerwyck  was  superin- 
tended by  chief  farm-master,  Peter  Simons,  until  the  "Anti- 
Rent  War"  and  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
and  township  system  in  New  York.  Barnardus  Bratt  lert 
four  sons  and  two  daughters :  Daniel  B .  and  Garret  Tunisson 
Bratt,  located  on  farms  at  Hoosac  Four  Corners;  Johannes 
Bratt  at  Buskirk  Bridge;  and  Henry  Bratt  in  Albany. 
Maria  Bratt  married  Robert  Lotteridge  of  Falls  Quequick, 
and  Elizabeth  Bratt  married  her  cousin,  John  Bratt,  of 
Petersburgh  Junction.  Mrs.  Samuel  Gardner,1  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  "Patroon  of  Hoosac,"  resides  on  the  Bratt 
homestead,  although  the  Patroon's  colonial  Dutch-roofed 

1  Granddaughter  of  Daniel  B.  Bratt. 


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240  The  Hoosac  Valley 

barns,  located  opposite  the  Gardner  Mansion,  burned  a  few 
years  ago.  The  portraits  of  the  Patroon  Daniel  B.  Bratt  and 
his  wife,  still  hang  on  the  parlor  wall  in  the  Gardner  Man- 
sion and  in  the  " God's  Acre"  near  by  lies  the  unmarked 
dust  of  the  founders  of  Dutch  Hooesac  hamlet  of  1732. 

The  St.  Croix  Manor  was  occupied  by  four  generations, 
descended  from  Patroon  Van  Ness,  between  1724  and  181 8. 
The  homestead  is  now  owned  by  Nicholas  Hathaway — a 
grandson  of  Peter  Gooding,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Garret 
Cornelius  Van  Ness.  The  will  of  Cornelius  Van  Ness,  son  of 
the  elder  patroon,  bears  date,  August  25,  1791,  and  he  left 
the  Van  Ness  Bible  to  his  daughter,  Sarah  Van  Ness,  later 
the  wife  of  Jacob  Van  Valkenburgh  of  Hoosac.  It  contains 
a  "Memorandum  of  the  Birth  and  Dying  Days"  of  the  Van 
Ness  and  Valkenburgh  families.  Alida  Van  Woerdt-Van 
Ness,  wife  of  Patroon  Cornelius  Van  Ness,  died,  May  24, 1778, 
thirteen  and  a  half  years  before  himself.  They  left  five 
sons  and  one  daughter:  Garret,  Jacob,  Johannes,  Peter, 
Hendrick,  and  Sarah  Van  Ness.  The  Van  Ness  Eible 
descended  to  Edgar  P.  Ladd  from  his  aunt,  Sarah  Van  Valken- 
burgh, the  seventh  daughter  of  Sarah  Van  Ness-Van  Valken- 
burgh. Edgar  P.  Ladd  is  a  grandson  of  Henrietta  Van 
Valkenburgh,  fourth  daughter  of  Sarah  Van  Ness  and  wife 
of  Samuel  Coon.  Their  daughter,  Mary  Coon,  married 
Hiram  Ladd  and  became  the  mother  of  Edgar  P.  Ladd 
of  Salem,  N.  Y. 

After  the  firing  of  the  first  guns  in  the  Battle  of  Lexington, 
Daniel  Hull  of  Little  Hoosac  organized  two  companies  of 
militia:  one  remained  posted  at  Hull's  Tavern  in  North 
Berlin  and  the  other  was  engaged  in  active  service.  Several 
Tories  resided  in  Dutch  Hoosac.  Lieut.  Joseph  Rudd1  of 
Bennington,  in  a  letter  dated  after  the  Battle  of  Bennington, 
records  that  "the  greater  part  of  Dutch  Hoosac"  joined 

1  See  Note  22  at  end  of  volume. 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        241 

Peter's  Corps  of  Loyalists  under  Col.  Francis  J.  Van  Pfister, 
posted  at  the  Tory  breastwork  on  Van  Pfister's  Hill.  Capt. 
Samuel  Anderson  of  Pownal  rallied  a  Tory  Company,  includ- 
ing Petrus  Bovie,  Bastian  Van  Deel,  Francis  Hogle,  "Gad" 
Gardner,  and  others  residing  along  the  disputed  Twenty - 
Mile  Line  between  New  York  and  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants. 

Patroons  Van  Ness,  Van  Rensselaer,  and  Barnardus  Bratt 
left  their  manors  in  charge  of  faithful  Negro  slaves  while 
their  families  removed  to  Albany  during  August,  1777.  Two 
of  Van  Ness's  slaves  possessed  both  the  Whig  and  Tory 
flags  while  guarding  their  master's  wheat  fields  at  St.  Croix. 
They  claimed  that  they  could  distinguish  a  Tory  from  a 
Whig  as  soon  as  they  came  into  view,  and  so  they  hoisted 
whichever  colors  the  occasion  demanded. 

The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  remained  the  "Beach- 
Seal  Court"  of  Hoosac  Valley  for  ten  years  after  the  Battle 
of  Bennington,  until  plain  Jonathan  Smith  of  "Constitution 
Hill,"  Lanesboro,  Mass.,  on  the  upper  Hoosac,  brought 
about  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  in  1788, 
through  his  speech  to  Congress.  The  first  town-meeting 
of  Hoosac  took  place  on  March  4,  1789,  and  the  following 
officers  were  elected: 

Thomas  Sickles   ....        Supervisor 

Zachariah  Sickles      .      .      .        Town  Clerk 

Jacob  Van  Ness 

Henry  Breese 

Nicholas  Snyder  (Schneider) 

Reuben  Thayer  \-  Assessors 

Isaac  Bull 

John  Johnson 

Zachariah  Sickles 

Henry  Brown       ....       Collector 

16 


242 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Thomas  Sickles 
William  Kerr 
Nicholas  Snyder 

Henry  Brown 
Squire  Reed 
Henry  Walker 
Samuel  Latham 
James  Williamson 
Henry  Snyder 
John  Van  Buren 
Henry  Breese 
John  Van  Ness 
Zachariah  Sickles 
Godfrey  Stark 
Ansel  Gray 

Squire  Reed 

Harper  Rogers 

Timothy  Graves 

Benjamin  Waite 

John  Millman 

Samuel  Latham 

John  Ryan 

Anthony  Van  Sur  Dam 

Garret  Van  Home 

Isaac  Lansing 

Daniel  Rogers 

John  Bo  vie 

Godfrey  Stark 

Jonathan  Case 

Ezekiel  Hodge 

Jonathan  Moasby  (Mosely) 

William  Briggs 

William  Mellen,  Jr. 

David  Brown 

John  Johnson 

Luke  Frink 


Overseers  of  the  Poor 


Constables 


Fence-viewers 


Pound-keepers 


Path-masters 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        243 

The  first  post-office  of  Hoosac  was  opened  in  1783  at 
"Hoosick  4  Corners  Inn,"  and  a  branch  office  was  soon  estab- 
lished at  Falls  Quequick,  in  Seth  Parsons's  machine-shop. 
Andrew  Parsons,  his  ten-year-old-son,  became  the  first  mail- 
carrier.  He  took  his  oath  of  office  by  kissing  the  Old 
English  Reader,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  Bibles. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  town-meeting  government,  better 
roads,  bridges,  and  district  schoolhouses  were  built.  Among 
the  historic  covered  bridges  may  be  mentioned  the  State 
Line  Bridge  of  the  Hoosac  Pass;  the  Little  Hoosac  Bridge  at 
Petersburgh  Four  Corners ;  the  White  House  Bridge  on  the 
the  Nepimore  Post  Road,  west  of  Hoosac  Four  Corners; 
Old  Rainbow  Bridge,  a  mile  above  Falls  Quequick — later  re- 
placed by  the  Hoosac  Falls  Bridge,  built  by  J.  Russell  Parsons 
in  1 79 1 ;  the  St.  Croix  Bridge  over  the  Little  White  Creek  on 
Old  Cambridge  Turnpike;  the  Eagle  Toll-Bridge;  and  Bus- 
kirk  Bridge  over  the  Hoosac  near  the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill. 

Dr.  Thomas  Hartwell  from  New  London,  Ct.,  in  1778 
was  the  first  doctor  to  settle  at  Falls  Quequick.  He  built 
his  homestead,  known  as  the  Melina  Wells  Place,  and  later 
founded  the  first  Federal  Lodge,  No.  33,  of  the  Order  of  Free 
Masons,  ■  in  1793.  Twelve  years  later  he  moved  to  the  Ohio 
Valley.  Dr.  Salmon  Moses  of  Norfolk,  Ct.,  meanwhile  settled 
at  Rensselaer  Mills,  now  Petersburgh ;  and  Dr.  Aaron  Drake 
Pat  chin  from  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  arrived  at  Falls  Quequick 
in  1799.  Dr.  Salmon  Moses  entered  Dr.  Patching  office  in 
1 818  and  succeeded  to  his  practice,  while  his  brother  assumed 
charge  of  his  Rensselaer  Mills  office  in  Little  Hoosac  Valley. 
During  the  same  time  Dr.  Hugh  Richey  located  at  St.  Croix 

1  As  early  as  December  20,  1767,  Henry  Andrew  Francken,  deputy  grand 
inspector-general  of  masonry  in  North  America,  constituted  Col.  Francis  J. 
Van  Pfister  of  Hoosac,  and  Thomas  Swords,  Thomas  Lynatt,  and  Richard 
Cartwright  of  Albany,  into  a  Regular  Lodge  of  Perfection  known  as  the 
"Ineffable." 


244  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  leased  a  farm  from  Cornelius  Van  Ness.  The  bond,  with 
the  signatures  of  both  Dr.  Richey  and  Patroon  Van  Ness,  is 
now  owned  by  Edgar  P.  Ladd  of  Salem,  N.  Y. 

After  the  Revolution  public  inns  stood  about  a  mile  apart 
on  the  Post  Road  throughout  Hoosac  Valley.  Among  the 
licensed  landlords  of  Dutch  Hoosac  between  March  4, 
1789,  and  1800  may  be  named,  William  Roberts,  Jr.,  God- 
frey Stock,  Jacob  Van  Ness,  Daniel  Kimball,  Henry 
Brown,  Benona  Burton,  Daniel  Van  Rensselaer,  Thomas 
Sickles,  Jonathan  Twiss,  John  Bovie,  Caleb  Hill,  Thomas 
Ford,  Henry  Van  Broock,  Freelove  Aylesworth,  Dan  Lyon, 
John  Potter,  Reuben  Baldwin,  besides  Esquires  Jacob  Van 
Valkenburgh,  Daniel  Bratt,  John  Mattison,  Norris  Pearce, 
Joseph  Ellsworth,  William  McCoy,  Samuel  Crary,  and 
Philip  Haynes. 

Noble's  Tavern  of  Falls  Quequick  was  built  in  1794  by 
Daniel  and  Sylvester  Noble  from  West  Stockbridge,  Mass. 
It  burned  later  and  Cornelius  Van  Vechten  built  the  Phoenix 
Hotel  on  its  site  in  1805,  run  by  Landlord  Ezra  Sackett. 
The  inn  burned  again  and  the  site  is  now  occupied  by  Wood's 
Block.  The  Nobles  and  their  kinsman,  Reuben  Baldwin, 
later  purchased  Isaac  Turner's  store  and  Joel  Abbott's 
blacksmith  shop  and  ashery.  Daniel  Noble  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  once  fined  a  hunter  three  shillings  for  break- 
ing the  Sabbath.  He  also  sentenced  a  man  for  swearing  to 
an  hour  in  the  Pillory  or  Stock,  located  on  the  corner  of 
Main  and  Water  streets,  opposite  the  site  of  Noble's  Tavern. 
The  ancient  whipping-post  was  the  venerable  tree  located 
on  the  late  Walter  Abbott  Wood's  lawn,  opposite  Parsons's 
resicfence.  Here  the  constable,  Godfrey  Eddy,  of  Pittstown, 
on  January  27,  1794,  bared  the  back  of  a  thief  and  adminis- 
tered twelve  stripes  with  the  "  Twigs  of  the  Wilderness." 

Slavery  in  Dutch  Hoosac  had  in  1802  reached  its  lowest 
depth  of  degradation.     In  that  year  the  Albany  Legislature 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        245 

passed  an  act  requiring  all  slave  owners  to  record  the  births 
of  illegitimate  children  of  their  slaves.  John  Palmer  on 
March  30,  1802,  recorded  before  the  justice  that:  "He  had 
the  3d  day  of  May  last  a  male  child,  born  of  his  black  ser- 
vant girl,  named  Dick."  Jacob  Ford  on  February  24,  1803, 
acknowledged  the  birth  of  a  female  colored  child,  born  May 
25,  1802,  named  Lucretia  Benjamin;  Henry  Van  Ness  on 
March  22,  1802,  certified  that:  "Gin,  his  black  or  African 
slave,  had  a  female  child  born  in  his  house  on  the  30th  day 
of  June,  1801,  named  Betty/'  Gin  deserted  her  master  and 
settled  in  North  Adams  on  the  upper  Hoosac.  The  Over- 
seers of  the  Poor  recorded  several  births  among  their  slaves 
before  New  York  abolished  slavery  in  1827. 

After  the  victorious  campaign  of  1777,  several  churches 
were  organized  and  built  in  Dutch  Hoosac,  including  the 
Baptist  Church  of  the  "Warren  Society"  at  Mapleton,  two 
miles  west  of  "Hoosick  4  Corners  Inn,"  March  16,  1785. 
The  Tory  Elder,  Benjamin  Hough,  first  minister  of  the 
Shaftsbury  Baptist  Church  of  Vermont,  preached  frequently 
in  Hoosac  until  1797,  in  which  year  Elder  Samuel  Rogers 
was  regularly  installed.  Deacons  John  Ryan,  Benjamin 
Walworth,  Samuel  Burrell,  Joseph  Dorr,  and  Sylvester 
Noble  later  organized  the  Baptist  Church  of  Falls  Quequick. 
It  was  built  among  the  pines,  in  the  south  end  of  the  village, 
in  1804  and  is  still  doing  duty,  although  much  enlarged. 
Elder  David  Rathburn  was  installed  as  regular  pastor  in 
1805.  The  Up-River  Methodist  Church,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Walloomsac,  near  Battle-field  Park,  was  founded  April 
16,  181 1,  by  Elder  William  Lake,  Thomas  Skeel,  John 
Matthews,  Benjamin  Barnet,  Isaac  Mosher,  Thomas  Mill- 
man,  Simeon  Sweet,  and  John  Comstock. 

In  the  Little  Hoosac  Valley  of  Rensselaerwyck  Manor, 
William  Coon  welcomed  John  Burdict  and  other  brethren  of 
the  "Hopkinton  Society"  from  Framingham,  Ct.,  at  Joseph 


246  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Carpenter's  home,  and  on  September  24,  1780,  founded  the 
Seventh  Day  Baptist  or  Adventist  Church,  of  which  Elder 
Coon  was  installed  pastor.  The  Baptist  Church  of  the 
"Warren  Society"  was  organized  at  Little  Hoosac,  now 
Berlin,  in  1784,  and  Justus  Hull  was  installed  pastor.  At  an 
equally  early  day  several  Germans  built  a  Lutheran  Church 
in  South  Berlin  and  Dominie  Voedder  was  installed  pastor. 
The  present  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches  of  Petersburgh 
were  organized  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812. 

At  Little  Hoosac,  Caleb  Bentley  built  the  first  grist-mill 
and  Amos  Sweet  the  first  saw-mill  and  blacksmith  shop; 
and  Manus  Griswold,  John  Reeve,  Joel  Mallery,  and  Joseph 
Hastings  opened  the  first  stores.  The  first  taverns  included 
those  of  Daniel  Hull,  James  Main,  Simeon  Odell,  Dr.  Burton 
Hammond,  Nathaniel  Niles,  John  Rhodes,  and  Nelson 
Henderson.  Among  the  doctors  may  be  mentioned  Job 
Tripp,  Peter  Olds,  Henry  Brown,  Emerson  Hull,  Ebenezer 
Robinson,  and  Joseph  Thompson  Skinner. 

During  the  "Anti-Rent  War,"  the  Rensselaerwyck  ten- 
antry of  Little  Hoosac  agreed  to  announce  the  advance  of  the 
sheriff  of  the  manor  by  blowing  a  dinner-horn,  as  a  signal 
to  the  "Indian  Boys' "  militia  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety.  In  instances  of  false  alarm,  it  is  reported  that  the 
fictitious  "Indians"  ate  up  the  farmers'  dinner  in  true 
savage  style. 

After  the  Revolution  Maj. -Gen.  Aaron  Worthington  built 
the  tavern  of  Rensselaer  Mills,  still  standing  in  South 
Petersburgh,  north  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Although  he 
had  served  during  the  War  of  18 12,  he  won  his  military  title 
during  general  training  days  of  the  State  militia,  after  the 
close  of  hostilities.  He  became  first  postmaster  of  Peters- 
burgh in  1822  and  the  post-office  was  located  at  his  inn. 

The  first  town-meeting  of  Rensselaer  Mills  was  held  in 
March,   1791,  at  Hezekiah  Coon's  Inn,  built  by  Cornelius 


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248  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Letcher  in  the  North  Village  about  1766.  Rensselaer  Mills 
was  organized  as  the  Town  of  Petersburgh,  and  christened 
in  honor  of  Peter  Simons,  chief  farm-master  and  the  largest 
land-holder  of  Rensselaerwyck  in  Little  Hoosac  Valley. 
The  upper  Little  Hoosac  neighborhood  was  organized  as 
Berlin  in  18 12,  although  official  town  records  were  not  kept 
until  about  1850. 

West  of  Petersburgh  lies  the  hilly  town  of  Grafton,  in  the 
Hoosacs'  Lake  District,  known  as  the  "Fisherman's  Para- 
dise," containing  Lake  Taconac,  Lake  Babcock,  and  Long 
Pond.  The  region  was  first  settled  by  Abel  Owens  from 
Rhode  Island  about  1786.  He  was  presented  with  a  farm  of 
two  hundred  acres  by  Patroon  Van  Rensselaer,  and  was  joined 
by  "Honest"  John  Babcock  and  other  Baptists  about  Lake 
Babcock,  including  Elkanah  Smith,  Joshua  Banker,  William 
Scrivens,  the  Coon,  Demmon,  Wells,  Wilcox,  West,  Burdick, 
Lewis,  and  Rogers  families.  Justus  Hull  organized  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Grafton  and  the  present  tavern  and  grist- 
mill of  Grafton  Centre  were  built  by  Gen.  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer  in  1838,  at  a  cost  of  $80,000,  and  the  centre  of 
the  town  is  known  as  Patroons'  Mills  to-day. 

At  the  opening  of  1780,  George  Tibbits,  a  son  of  John 
Tibbits  of  Warwick,  R.  I.,  who  first  settled  on  a  farm  in 
Cheshire  on  the  upper  Hoosac,  moved  down  the  Hoosac 
to  Lansingburgh,  where  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  through 
the  financial  aid  of  the  importer,  Francis  Atkinson,  he 
became  a  dry-goods  merchant.  In  1800  George  Tibbits  pur- 
chased Col.  Francis  J.  Van  Pfister's  "White  House  Manor  "  of 
Nepimore,  in  Dutch  Hoosac,  and  was  elected  a  member  ol 
the  Albany  Assembly  and  Senator  of  the  Eastern  District 
of  New  York  during  Gov.  De  Witt  Clinton's  term  of  office, 
between  1815  and  1820. 

The  "White  House  Manor"  descended  to  George  Morti- 
mer Tibbits,  eldest  son  of  George  Tibbits.     He  built  a  brick 


Old  Hoosac  Falls  and  Petersburgh        249 

mansion,  remodelled  in  i860  into  the  present,  brown,  free- 
stone Gothic  castle,  now  owned  by  his  son,  Le  Grand  Tibbits. 
The  quaint  architecture  of  Tibbits  Gothic  castle  and  the 
park-enfolded  slopes  of  Nepimore  Vale  distinguish  it  as 
the  finest  manor  in  the  Hoosacs'  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters. 
Here,  George  Mortimer  Tibbits  (if  one  excepts  the  time  he 
spent  in  travel  in  England,  France,  Germany,  and  Italy) 
passed  his  entire  life,  collecting  treasures  of  art  and  a  val- 
uable French  library,  until  his  death  in  1878.  He  imported 
a  large  herd  of  Teeswater  Durham  cattle  and  at  one  time 
owned  the  largest  flock  of  Saxony  sheep  in  America.  The 
German,  H.  De  Grove,  first  imported  Saxony  sheep  to 
Hoosac  during  1820.  Bucks  at  that  time  sold  as  high  as 
$500.  In  1845  there  were  56,000  Saxony  sheep  grazing 
on  the  Hoosac  hillsides.  Hoosac  and  North  Adams  became 
a  wool-growing  centre  in  1829  and  the  finest  cheviots, 
merinos,  and  cashmeres  were  manufactured  by  Briggs 
Brothers  until  1884  at  the  historic  "Linwood  Mills"  at 
North  Adams. 

After  the  opening  of  the  Stone  Post  Road  between  Albany 
and  Bennington  in  1791,  Hezekiah  Munsell,  Sr.,  became  the 
first  postmaster,  followed  by  Dr.  Asher  Armstrong  from 
Taunton,  Mass.  The  latter  was  postmaster  until  his  death 
in  1832.  Hezekiah  Munsell,  Jr.,  and  Dr.  Prosper  Armstrong 
founded  the  first  public  library  in  Hoosac  in  1825.  Dr.  Asher 
Armstrong  in  1796  built  his  homestead  on  South  Main  Street, 
known  to-day  as  Betsey  Hawks's  house,  owned  by  Edward 
Hawks  of  North  Adams,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Sergt.  John 
Hawks  of  Fort  Massachusetts  fame.  The  famous  doctors 
of  Hoosac  included  the  names  of  Simeon  Curtiss,  Murray 
Hall,  and  John  Warren;  and  the  leading  lawyers  included  the 
names  of  Reuben  Walworth,  George  Rex  Davis,  Hezekiah 
Munsell,  Jr.,  Lorenze  Sherwood,  James  W.  Nye,  John  Fitch, 
and  Judge  Levi  Chandler  Ball. 


250  The  Hoosac  Valley 

During  the  War  of  1812  the  first  volunteers  of  Hoosac  to 
join  Brig.-Gen.  Gilbert  Eddy's  " Expedition"  against  the 
British  at  Plattsburgh  in  18 14  included: 

John  Haynes  Talman  Chase 

Capt.  Lemuel  Sherwood  Benjamin  Sweet 

Benjamin  Baker  Ensign  John  Hallenbeck 

Stephen  Chapman  Solomon  Wilson 

Garret  Hallenbeck  Clark  Baker 

Job  Case  Jacob  Height 

Jacob  Van  Denburgh  Sergeant  Watkins 
Mr.  Onderkirk 

William  Coon,  Justus  Hull,  and  Aaron  Worthington  were 
among  the  military  leaders  of  Little  Hoosac  Valley.  Capt. 
Sylvanus  Danforth  lead  the  Pownal  company,  while  the 
Berkshire  and  Bennington  companies  were  not  behind  in 
rallying  at  the  Old  Finney  Tavern  Stand  in  Pittstown, 
previous  to  Eddy's  march  to  Plattsburgh. 

During  those  days  the  "hoosick  4  corners  tavern" 
became  headquarters  for  central  Hoosac  Boys'  militia. 
The  town  in  1812  contained  three  companies,  including 
Capt.  Thomas  Osborne's  Artillery,  Capt.  Abram  Reach's 
Infantry,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Bosworth's  Cavalry,  and  a  vol- 
unteer company  of  Minute  Men,  headed  by  Capt.  George 
Rex  Davis,  a  son  of  the  patriotic  Welshman  who  deserted 
Burgoyne's  British  home-ranks  on  their  march  through 
Hoosac  Pass  to  Boston  in  October,  1777. 


CHAPTER  XII 

OLD    SCHAGHTICOKE    AND    OLD    CAMBRIDGE  DISTRICTS 
I759-I8I5 

Our  Indian  rivulets, 
Wind  mindful  still  of  sannup  and  of  squaw, 
Whose  pipe  and  arrow  oft  the  plough  unburies, 
Here,  in  pine  houses,  built  of  new-fallen  trees, 
Supplanters  of  the  tribe,  the  farmers  dwell. 

Emerson. 

Protestant  Dutch  Church — Knickerbacker  Mansion — Pittstown  and  Cam- 
bridge Patents — Military  Districts — Burgoyne's  Invasion,  1777 — Tory 
Out-Posts — Massacre  of  Maj.  Derrick  Van  Vechten — Methodist,  Baptist, 
Quaker,  Dutch  Reformed,  and  Presbyterian  Churches — Town-Meetings, 
1789 — Inns — Slaves — Burial-Fields — Academies — Festivities  at  Knicker- 
backer "  Hostead. " 

THE  Knickerbacker  tenantry  of  Old  Schaghticoke  Manor 
avoided  the  English  settlers,  and  it  is  said  that  a  line 
of  neutrality  ran  north  and  south  through  Hart's  Falls, 
separating  their  social  domains.  The  aggressive  spirit  of 
the  Friesland  aristocracy  against  the  English  Pilgrims  was 
partly  dissipated  through  intermarriage  and  constant  migra- 
tion before  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  The  Connecticut 
and  Green  Mountain  Boys  managed  to  marry  the  Dutch 
patroons'  daughters,  and  their  grandsons  have  inherited 
their  Hoosac  Manors,  where  their  descendants  still  reside. 

The  " Great  Lots"  28,  39,  40,  41,  and  42  of  Hoosac  Patent, 
were  located  in  the  limits  of  Schaghticoke  township.  The 
village  lies  in  the  "Eastermost  half  of  Lot  41,"  drawn  chiefly 
by  Philip  Van  Ness,  an  heir  of  Jan  Van  Ness;  and  lots  28 

251 


252  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  39  were  drawn  by  John  B.  Van  Rensselaer,  heir  of 
Kiliaen  Van  Rensselaer.  In  1765,  he  sold  lot  39  and  half  of 
the  mill-lot  28  to  Simon  Toll  of  Fort  Schenectady.  Ten 
years  later  Toll  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  mill-lot  to  his 
son,  Charles  Toll,  and  during  1793  he  sub-divided  the  lot 
into  farms  and  sold  them  to  the  English  and  Scotch-Irish. 
The  Tioshoke  Manor  of  Philip  Van  Ness,  on  the  north  bank 
of  Hoosac  River,  contained  4000  acres  and  was  two  miles 
in  width.  It  extended  from  Hart's  Falls  up  the  Hoosac  to 
the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill.  Chief  farm-master,  Thomas 
Whittebeck,  built  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  near  the  junction 
of  Gordon's  Brook  with  the  Hoosac  at  Tioshoke  Village. 
These  were  the  first  mills  in  the  Cambridge  District. 

The  Dutch  meeting-house  of  Old  Schaghticoke  was  torn 
down  in  1760  and  replaced  by  a  frame  edifice,  the  first  in 
Hoosac  Valley.  It  was  modelled  after  the  Dutch  Church  of 
Albany,  and  was  40  x  60  feet,  with  a  low  side  wall  surmoun- 
ted by  a  high-pitched,  mansard  roof  and  bulbous  turret, 
topped  by  a  brass  weather-cock.  The  pulpit  stood  on  a 
high  pedestal  beneath  a  huge  sounding  board,  and  the  hour- 
glass on  a  side  bracket  pointed  out  the  length  of  the  sermon 
to  the  nodding  burghers.  The  sacred  desk  was  graced  by 
the  family  Bible  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d,  which 
was  printed  in  Holland  during  1 741 .  Below  the  pulpit  stood 
the  voor-lieser' s  (clerk's  desk)  and  in  front  of  that  stood 
the  quaint  communion  table.  The  Bible  and  hand  Kerk- 
klockje  (church-bell)  descended  to  the  late  Col.  William 
Knickerbacker  of  the  colonial  mansion  east  of  the  "Ho- 
stead." 

The  dominie's  parsonage  was  built  about  1770  east  of  the 
Tomhannac  Creek  Bridge.  An  "Indenture,"  dated  July 
4,  1767,  records  that  "Yocob  Viele  conveyed  the  premises 
to  the  'Ministers,  Elders,  and  Deacons  of  the  Protestant 
Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  Albany'  .  .   .  ' for  Divers  Good 


8   *§ 


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253 


254 


The  Hoosac  Valley- 


causes  and  Consideration '  .  .  ..  'but  more  especially  for 
and  in  consideration  of  Five  Shillings  current  money  of 
New  York.'" 

Dominie  Eilardus  Westerlo  preached  quarterly  at  Old 
Schaghticoke  Church  between  1759  and  the  installation  of 


The  Family  Bible  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d,  printed  in  Holland 
in  1 7 41.  The  Hand-bell  was  used  to  call  the  burghers  of  the  Vale  of  Peace  to 
service  at  the  Old  Dutch  Church.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  first  church-bell  used  at 
the  first  frame  church  built  in  Hoosac  Valley  during  Colonial  Days. 


the  venerable  Elias  Van  Bunschooten  in  1 773.  After  the  open- 
ing of  the  Revolution  in  New  York  City,  the  Dutch  Reformed 
missionaries,  Dominie  Lambertus  De  Ronde  and  his  wife, 
Margareta  Catharine  De  Sandra- De  Ronde,  purchased  the 
Johannes  De  Wandlaer  homestead,  a  mile  north  of  the  Knick- 
erbacker Mansion,  and  aided  Dominie  Van  Bunschooten. 

Colonel  Knickerbacker,  2d,  owned  a  large  staff  of  Negro 
slaves,  including  Tom  Mandolin,  who  received  his  surname 
because  of  his  ability  to  play  the  mandolin.     Uncle  Tom 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  255 

was  never  able  to  master  addition  and  subtraction.  He 
was  stationed  at  the  gateway  of  the  sheepfold  by  his  master 
to  count  the  sheep  as  they  were  turned  out  to  the  pasture. 
He  began:  "One,  two,  three,"  but  could  not  go  farther,  and 
continued  to  exclaim :  "  Massa,  there  goes  a'nudder,  a'nudder, 
and  a'nudder,"  until  it  was  discovered  that  the  whole  flock 
had  departed. 

Uncle  Tom  delighted  to  sit  in  the  chimney  corner  with  his 
mandolin  during  the  long  winter  evenings  and  entertain 
the  Knickerbacker  boys  and  their  friend,  Washington 
Irving.  He  recounted  the  Mahican  legends  of  St.  Croix, 
u  Weeping  Rocks,"  and  the  witch  stories  of  Kreigger  Rocks 
and  the  massacres  of  Schaghticoke  Plains  and  Spook 
Hollow.  He  was  familiar  with  the  mysterious  pilgrimages 
of  Queen  Esther  and  her  maidens  from  St.  Regis  to  the  Hoo- 
sacs'  burial-field,  and  the  adventures  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen 
and  his  "Minute  Men,"  including  Ignace  Kipp  and  John 
J.  Bleecker  of  Tomhannac. 

Pittstown  Patent  comprised  the  valley  of  Tomhannac 
Creek,  south  to  Rensselaerwyck.  It  was  granted  on  July, 
23,  1 761,  to  six  proprietors  including  Shepherd,  Clark, 
Sawyer,  Schuyler,  De  Peyster,  and  Van  Cortlandt.  The 
north  line  of  Pittstown  to-day  follows  the  centre  of  Hoosac 
River.  Among  the  proprietors  of  Pittstown,  after  the  first 
town-meeting  took  place  in  1789,  may  be  named: 

Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  William  Prendergast 

Alexander  Thompson  Stephen  Hunt 

Benjamin  Aiken  Christian  Fischer 

Edmund  Aiken  Joseph  Tanny 

Isaac  Van  Hoosen  Samuel  Livingston 

Teunis  Van  Derwerker  Thomas  Hicks 

Sybrant  Quackenbosch  Pennel  Bacon 

Joshua  Babcock  Cornelius  Wiley 

Samuel  Rowland  Michael  Van  Dercook 


256  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Michael  Van  Dercook  built  the  Cooksboro  Mills,  James 
Mallery  taught  the  Buskirk  District  School,  James  Purdy 
ran  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  Samuel  Osborne  a  shoe-shop. 

Cambridge  Patent  at  first  comprised  30,000  acres  in  the 
Owl  Kill  and  White  Creek  intervales,  granted  on  July  21, 
1 76 1,  to  Isaac  Sawyer,  Edmund  Wells,  Jacob  Abraham 
Lansing,  Alexander  Colden,  William  Smith,  and  Goldsboro 
Bangor.  After  the  first  town-meeting  in  1789,  Philip  Van 
Ness's  Tioshoke  Manor  on  the  north  bank  of  Hoosac,  con- 
taining 4000  acres,  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge  and  later  inherited  by  the  patroon's 
four  daughters. 

The  first  settlers  of  Cambridge  included  thirty  Scotch- 
Irish  families  from  Coleraine  in  Old  Berkshire,  including 
Col.  Absalom  Blair,  Jeremiah  Clarke,  George  Duncan,  Capt. 
George  Gilmore,  Maj.  James  Cowden,  Ephraim  Cowan, 
David  Harrow,  William  Clarke,  John  Scott,  Thomas  Morri- 
son, and  others.  Each  received  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
acres,  located  on  the  banks  of  the  Owl  Kill,  if  he  settled  upon 
it  within  three  years  after  the  patent  was  granted.  Maj. 
James  Cowden  built  the  first  log-tavern,  on  the  site  of  his 
"  Checkered  House,"  which  still  stands. 

Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d,  in  1770,  completed  his 
brick  mansion  in  Old  Schaghticoke  and  invited  the  Albany 
mayor  and  council  to  a  feast.  He  bargained  with  the  merry 
councillors  for  Schaghticoke  Manor,  containing  six  miles 
square,  and  secured  it  for  less  than  $1000.  He  agreed, 
however,  to  entertain  the  successive  "  Gentlemen  of  Albany" 
with  "Meat,  Drink,  and  lodging  once  a  Year"  at  his  "Ho- 
stead"  in  Old  Schaghticoke.  Two  years  later,  on  March 
24,  1772,  Albany  County  was  sub-divided  into  Schaghticoke 
and  Cambridge  military  districts.  The  former  comprised 
Colonel  Knickerbacker' s  Schaghticoke  Manor  and  the  Pitts- 
town  patent,  and  the  latter,  the  Philip  Van  Ness  Tioshoke 


257 


258  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Manor;  and  Cambridge  Patent  now  comprised  in  Cambridge, 
White  Creek,  and  Jackson  townships. 

The  Cambridge  Council  of  Safety  sent  John  Younglove, 
Samuel  Ashton,  Simeon  Carel,  Jeremiah  Clarke,  and  John 
Millington  as  delegates  to  the  Albany  council  of  war  on 
May  10,  1775,  the  same  day  that  Col.  Ethan  Allen  captured 
Fort  Ticonderoga. 

Upon  the  advance  of  Burgoyne's  British  army  down  the 
Hudson  in  August,  1777,  the  mixed  tenantry  of  the  Schaghti- 
coke  and  Hoosac  manors  removed  to  Albany,  Williamstown, 
and  Stockbridge.  Ann  Eliza  Schuyler-Bleecker,  in  her  Me- 
moirs, published  in  1795,  records  that  her  husband,  John  J. 
Bleecker,  was  in  Albany  looking  for  quarters  for  his  family, 
when  a  false  alarm  of  an  advance  of  Burgoyne's  Indian  scouts 
spread  terror  among  the  tenantry  of  the  "Vale  of  Peace.' ' 
Mrs.  Bleecker  caught  her  babe  in  her  arms  and  led  her  other 
child  five  miles  to  "  Stone  Arabia,"  now  Lansingburgh.  She 
remained  overnight  in  the  attic  of  a  wealthy  acquaintance ; 
the  children  slept  on  blankets  stretched  over  boards,  while 
she  wept.  Mr.  Bleecker  arrived  at  sunrise  and  rescued  his 
family  and  set  sail  on  a  sloop  down  the  Hudson  to  Red  Hook. 

A  band  of  hostile  Tories  and  Indians  held  Fort  Schaghti- 
coke  and  several  abandoned  houses  of  the  settlers  as  a 
British  outpost.  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker's  14th  N.  Y. 
Regiment,  composed  of  officers  and  men  from  Dutch  Hoosac 
and  Schaghticoke,  was  slow  in  marching  to  the  field  of  action. 
It  is  locally  reported  that  he  was  fourteen  days  arriving  at 
General  Gates's  encampment,  which  he  reached  October  7th, 
at  dusk,  just  as  the  scene  of  the  second  battle  of  Old  Sara- 
toga was  closing  and  in  time  only  to  shout  exultingly  to  the 
fleeing  Britains. 

Maj.  Derrick  Van  Vechten,  an  officer  in  Colonel  Knicker- 
backer's 14th  Regiment,  was  posted  at  Mechanicsville.  He 
and   Samuel  Acker  visited   Old   Schaghticoke  before   the 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  259 

Battle  of  Saratoga  on  September  19th,  to  observe  their 
fields  of  grain.  While  standing  on  the  hill  of  Yocob  Yates's 
farm,  above  the  Tomhannac  Bridge,  the  Tories  and  Indians 
fired  a  volley  of  bullets  as  they  retreated  toward  the  Hudson. 
Major  Van  Vechten  fell,  mortally  wounded,  with  a  bullet  in 
his  heart,  beneath  the  elm  tree  on  the  present  road  below 
Reynolds  Station.  He  shouted  to  Acker  to  take  care  of 
himself,  saying:  "You  cannot  save  me."  Acker  reached  the 
American  Camp  and  a  detachment  of  soldiers  was  sent  to 
bury  Major  Van  Vechten's  body. 

The  Tomhannac  Road  was  also  guarded  by  Tories,  occu- 
pying Abraham  Viele's  house  below  Buttermilk  Falls. 
Three  officers  on  horseback  advanced  to  Fort  Schaghticoke 
with  messages  from  Generals  Clinton  and  Howe  to  General 
Burgoyne.  They  were  mistaken  for  American  scouts,  and 
the  sharpshooters  posted  in  the  Spook  Hollow  ravine  above 
Viele's  house  mortally  wounded  one  of  the  officers.  He 
expired  beneath  the  butternut  tree,  still  standing  in  front 
of  the  Button  house,  now  on  the  site  of  Viele's  house. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  British  in  1777,  Hoosac,  Pitts- 
town,  and  Cambridge  Patents  were  settled  by  Baptists  and 
Quakers  from  New  England.  The  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
was  founded  at  Pittstown  Centre  in  1787  by  deacons  John 
Bailey,  John  Van  Woerdt,  Jonathan  Yates,  and  Simeon  Van 
Dercook;  and  the  Tioshoke  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  located 
at  Buskirk  Bridge,  in  Cambridge  District,  was  organized, 
May  2,  1792,  by  Dominie  Samuel  Smith,  Patroon  Philip 
Van  Ness,  Johannes  Quackenbosch,  Nicholas  Groesbeck, 
Ludovicus  Viele,  Petrus  Viele,  and  Johannes  Van  Buskirk. 
The  Presbyterian  Church — a  branch  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  at  Tomhannac — was  organized,  March  25,  1800, 
by  the  original  deacons  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Pitts- 
town  Centre. 

The  Baptist  Church  of  the  "Warren  Society' '  began  at 


260  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Pittstown  Centre  in  March,  1787,  being  instituted  by  Ger- 
shorm  Hinckley,  Benjamin  Eastwood,  Jared  Mead,  Samuel 
Crandall,  John  Lamb,  William  Lamport,  Jacob  Miller, 
Samuel  Halstead,  William  Cuthbert,  Mayhew  Daggett, 
Jeremiah  Reynolds,  Ebenezer  Wilson,  Nathan  Jeffers,  and 
Thomas  Martin  from  Rhode  Island. 

The  Society  of  Friends  was  organized  in  Pittstown  during 
1787,  and  included  as  members  the  names  of  Abigal  Lamb, 
John  Osborne,  David  Norton,  Caleb  Norton,  Simeon  Brown- 
ell,  and  Asa  Hoag.  Mrs.  Rose  Eddy,  Simeon  Brownell, 
Asa  Hoag,  and  Elizabeth  Lawton,  wife  of  Joseph  Lawton, 
were  the  first  speakers.  The  Quaker  meeting-house  was 
built  about  1800;  subsequently  burned  and  rebuilt  in  18 19 
by  Mica j ah  Hunt. 

The  founders  of  Cambridge  District,  after  the  campaign 
of  1777,  included  Phineas  Whiteside,  Daniel  Bratt,  Nathaniel 
Kenyon,  Samuel  Willet,  and  the  Scotch-Irish  merchants, 
John  Shirland,  Hugh  Laramouth,  John  Galloway,  David 
Burrows,  Calvin  Skinner,  Alexander  Marshall,  Elihu 
Gifford,  the  Almy,  Tilton,  Mayhew,  Brownell,  Sherman, 
Stevenson,  Ackley,  Bowen,  Webster,  Green,  Wier,  Averill, 
English,  Waite,  Coulter,  and  Mc Vicar  families. 

Young  Elihu  Gifford  once  led  a  romantic  life  on  board  a 
privateer.  He  aided  his  captain  in  seizing  a  British  vessel 
loaded  with  silver,  and  the  money  was  transferred  to  their 
privateer.  This  success  lead  them  to  try  to  seize  a  disguised 
British  ship  of  war,  manned  with  seventy-four  guns.  In 
the  attempt  the  privateer  herself  was  seized.  Gifford  was 
an  expert  swimmer  and  proposed  to  a  companion  in  the  hold 
of  the  British  ship,  to  swim  three  miles  to  the  Cuban  shore, 
after  dark.  They  reached  the  shore  safely  and  the  following 
morning  the  British  ship  set  sail  for  England.  Elihu  Gifford 
returned  to  his  native  Cambridge  hills.  His  son,  Nathan, 
inherited  his  father's  courage  and  headed  a  company  of 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  261 

volunteers  in  Eddy's  "Expedition"  in  18 14.  Elihu  Gifford 
and  Samuel  Sandford  became  kinsmen  of  the  famous  land- 
scape artist,  Sandford  Gifford. 

The  White  Creek  intervale  of  Cambridge  District  was 
settled  by  Austin  Wells,  a  son  of  the  original  proprietor, 
Edmund  Wells,  and  several  small  patents  were  granted  to 
other  settlers,  including  Lake,  Van  Cuyler,  Wilson,  Bain, 
Campbell,  Ashton,  Embury,  and  Waite  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Walloomsac,  partly  in  Hoosac  District. 

Elder  William  Waite  and  several  Rhode  Island  Baptists  of 
the  " Warren  Society"  of  Cambridge  District,  together  with 
Deacons  Waldo  and  Goff  of  Hoosac  District,  in  1772  built 
the  First  Baptist  Church  at  Waite's  Corners,  two  miles 
south  of  Major  Cowden's  "  Checkered  House,"  between  St. 
Croix  and  Walloomsac  hamlets.  The  Baptist  Church1  was 
broken  up  August  16,  1777,  many  of  the  brethren  joining  Col. 
Francis  J.  Van  Pfister's  Loyalists  and  fighting  against  their 
brothers  at  the  Tory  breastworks.  During  February,  1779, 
the  church  was  reorganized  and  a  new  meeting-house  built. 
Elder  William  Waite  was  installed  pastor  until  1793,  after 
which  the  famous  missionary,  the  Rev.  Obed  Warren,  the 
founder  of  the  "Warren  Society"  of  Baptists  in  America, 
at  Warren,  R.  I.,  in  1767,  was  installed  pastor  and  retained 
the  office  until  18 12. 

During  1769,  Thomas  and  James  Ashton  of  England 
headed  a  colony  of  Irish  Methodists  of  the  John  Wesley 
Society,  and  located  at  Ash  Grove,  two  miles  east  of  Old 
Cambridge  Village,  in  North  White  Creek  intervale,  bor- 
dering Shaftsbury,  New  Hampshire  Grants. 

The  military  manor  of  Clarendon,  containing  4000  acres, 
drawn  and  purchased  by  Lieut.  Duncan  Mc Vicar  in  1 763, 
was  located  in  White  Creek,  N.  Y.,  and  Shaftsbury,  New 
Hampshire    Grants.     It    overlapped    the   latter   township 

1  Benedict,  History  of  the  Baptist  Churches. 


262  The  Hoosac  Valley 

granted  to  the  Rhode  Islanders  by  Gov.  Benning  Wentworth 
in  i 761. 

The  Irish  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Presbyterian  pro- 
prietors of  Shaftsbury  founded  not  only  their  churches  but 
their  republican  government,  and  Lieutenant  Mc Vicar  was 
forced  to  sail  for  Scotland  in  1770  and  relinquish  his  baronial 
estate,  east  of  the  Twenty- Mile  Line.  Philip  Embury,  an 
Episcopal  clergyman,  became  impressed  with  the  zeal  of 
the  followers  of  John  Wesley.  He  preached  the  first  Metho- 
dist sermon  in  this  country  at  the  Old  John  Street  Church 
in  New  York  City  in  1766.  The  White  Creek  Wesleyans 
held  meetings  in  Ash  Grove,  near  Ashton's  home,  until  the 
Ash  Grove  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  second  in 
America,  was  organized  in  1770.  The  Rev.  Philip  Embury 
was  installed  first  pastor.  He  died  at  Salem,  N.  Y.,  and  is 
known  as  the  founder  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America. s  His  grave  in  the  Ash  Grove  burial-field  is  marked 
by  a  memorial  monument  to-day.  The  Ash  Grove  Metho- 
dist Church  was  the  first  church  organized  in  Washington 
County.  Later,  in  1793,  the  Scotch-Irish  followers  of  John 
Calvin  founded  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Cambridge 
Village,  although  their  "Old  White  Meeting-house"  was  not 
dedicated  until  many  years  later. 

After  the  advent  of  the  Rhode  Island  Baptists,  several 
Quakers  from  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  arrived  about  1784. 
The  Quaker  Church  of  Cambridge  was  founded  by  Isaac 
and  John  Wood;  Jonathan,  Amos,  Abraham,  and  Stephen 
Hoag;  John  and  Philip  Allen — cousins  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen; 
Jonathan  Russey;  Samuel,  Joseph,  and  Allen  Mosher; 
James  Carpenter,  Benjamin  and  Nathan  Nichols;  Micah 
Cavell,  Micah  and  James  Hunt;  John  Soule,  John  Wing, 
Cornelius  Devol,  David  Norton,  Seth  Chase,  and  the  Baker, 
Hart,  Tabor,  Cornell,  Kintch,  and   Potter  families.     The 

1  Johnston,  Washington  County  History,  p.  259. 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  263 

meeting-house  of  the  Society  of  Friends  was  built  half  a 
mile  west  of  White  Creek  hamlet,  on  land  leased  of  Edward 
Aiken  for  an  annual  quit-rent  of  one  pepper-corn.  The 
first  and  second  churches  were  destroyed  by  fire — the  latter 
in  1875. 

Schaghticoke  township  began  in  the  centre  of  Hudson 
River  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Rensselaer  County,  thence 
ran  east  to  the  middle  of  Hoosac  River;  thence  down  the 
river  to  Viele's  or  Toll's  Bridge,  a  direct  course  to  Michael 
Van  Dercook's  grist-mill  at  Cooksboro;  westerly  along  the 
bounds  of  Lansingburgh  to  the  centre  of  Hudson  River,  and 
thence  northerly  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

The  founders  of  Schaghticoke  included  the  grandsons  of 
the  Knickerbacker  Dutch  tenantry,  and  several  English 
and  Scotch-Irish  Pilgrims  from  New  England.  Thomas 
Lounsbury  from  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  purchased 
second  division  lots  2  and  3  of  the  Great  Lot  41  on  Hoosac 
Patent  in  1778  for  $9000.  His  farm  was  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  width,  running  westerly  on  the  Stillwater  Road, 
extending  two  miles  north  of  the  "Big  Eddy,"  of  Hart's 
Falls.  Lounsbury's  "Big  Eddy"  mill-lot  was  later  owned 
by  Johannes  P.  Hansen  and  Aaron  B.  Hinman,  now  the  site 
of  Schaghticoke  Point.  The  village  of  Hart's  Falls  was  first 
settled  by  John  Hart,  John  I.  Fort,  Jacob  Corbin,  John 
Searles,  William  Bacus,  John  S.  Mosher,  David  Bryan, 
John  Banker,  Patrick  Fitzgerald,  Frederick  Romp,  John 
and  Augustus  Downs,  Daniel  Elst,  Garret  Wenant,  Rite 
Piner,  Lewis  Van  Antwerp,  David  Browning,  Sybrant  Viele, 
George  Wetsel,  and  Jacob  Overock. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  founded  by  Thomas 
Lounsbury  and  other  members  of  the  Calvin  Society,  on 
Schaghticoke  Hill  Road,  south  of  Hart's  Falls  in  1805. 
Later  the  church  was  moved  to  Hart's  Falls,  where  several 
inns,  mills,  and  stores  centred.   About  the  same  time  Schagh- 


264  The  Hoosac  Valley 

ticoke  Hill  hamlet,  two  miles  south  of  Hart's  Falls,  con- 
tained Roger's  Inn,  Peter  Hurly's  blacksmith  shop,  Hiram 
Bud's  shoe-shop,  Peter  Yates's  store,  George  Burton's  twine- 
mill,  Harwood's  powder-keg  mill,  and  Herman  Jansen 
Knickerbacker's  grist-mill  and  saw-mill,  known  as  James 
Ryan's  mills  to-day.  Two  miles  below,  near  Buttermilk 
Falls  on  the  Tomhannac  and  above  Abram  Viele's  Inn,  stood 
a  bellows' -mill;  and  in  the  Bryan  District,  on  the  Hudson 
terrace,  stood  a  grain-cradle  and  fanning-mill  shop. 

Among  the  licensed  inn-keepers  of  Schaghticoke  between 
1789  and  1804  may  be  named  Jesse  Buffett,  who  ran  the 
American  House  at  Hart's  Falls;  Benjamin  Holt,  Abram 
Viele,  Garret  Winne,  Simon  Toll,  John  Story,  Jacob  Over- 
ock,  David  Bryan,  John  Travice,  Jared  Esbill,  Caleb  Gifford, 
Moses  Canfield,  Ephraim  Lyon,  Isaac  Bull,  Samuel  Storms, 
James  Brooking,  Nathaniel  Rusco,  and  James  Lightbody. 

The  Albany  Legislature  passed  an  act  in  1802  requiring  all 
slave  owners  to  appear  before  a  justice  and  record  illegitimate 
births  of  children  born  among  their  Negro  slaves.  In 
Schaghticoke,  Cornelius  Buskirk  certified  that  his  slave, 
named  Gin,  had  a  female  child,  born  August  19,  1798,  named 
Sarah  Frances;  Nicholas  Groesbeck,  Joseph  Talmage,  Peter 
Yates,  John  Knickerbacker,  Winslow  Paige,  Lewis  Viele, 
Bethel  Mather,  William  Groesbeck,  Levennus  Van  Denburg, 
John  Crabb,  and  Jacob  Sipperly  all  made  similar  records 
until  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  1827.  Another  record  in 
1804  was  that  the  Canada  thistle  was  a  pest  in  Schaghticoke 
fields  and  each  land  owner  was  fined  $5.00  if  he  failed  to 
destroy  those  weeds. 

The  Thomas  Lounsbury  burial-field  was  dedicated  for  the 
use  of  the  poor  on  Stillwater  Road,  near  Schaghticoke 
Village,  in  1797.  The  oldest  marked  grave  was  that  of 
"Michael  Klein,  son  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Klein,  born 
September  29,   1774,  and  died  March  21,   1797,  aged  22 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  265 

years."  The  cemetery  was  locally  known  as  the  "Klein 
Grave  Yard,"  until  the  stone  was  removed  a  few  years 
ago.  The  tombstone  of  the  founder  is  located  in  the 
centre  of  the  yard: 

IN    MEMORY 

of 

Thomas  Lounsbury 

Who  departed  this  life 

12th  May,  1813 

In  77th  Year  of 

His  Age. 

The  first  town-meeting  of  Pitt stown  was  held  at  the  Still 
Tavern,  near  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  in  Centre-of-the 
Town,  during  April,  1789.  The  licensed  inn-keepers  included 
Peter  Doty  of  the  Brick  Tavern,  Daniel  Carpenter  and 
Colonel  Reed  at  Pittstown  Centre;  the  latter  inn  is  known 
as  the  Union  House  to-day.  Finney's  Tavern  Stand  on  the 
Herman  farm  proved  a  rallying  place  for  the  volunteers 
joining  Gen.  Gilbert  Eddy's  "Expedition"  against  the 
British  at  Plattsburgh,  on  Lake  Champlain  in  18 14.  Wads- 
worth's  Tavern  of  Boyntonville,  Aiken's  Inn,  and  Fish's 
Tavern  were  considered  the  famous  hostelries  before  the 
Battle  of  Bennington.  GifTord's  Tavern  at  Valley  Falls 
won  a  reputation  for  its  festivities  during  the  War  of  18 12, 
at  which  time  Mordecai  Lotteridge  was  its  proprietor. 

The  first  town-meeting  of  Cambridge  was  held  at  Ishmael 
Gardner's  Inn,  at  Waite's  Corners,  during  March,  1789, 
and  thereafter  at  Archibald  McVicar's  Inn,  known  later 
as  Waite's  Tavern.  Maj.  James  Cowden's  famous  "  Check- 
ered House,"  painted  with  red  and  white  checkers,  was  the 
leading  tavern  in  Cambridge  Valley  during  the  Revolution. 
It  was  converted  into  a  private  residence  a  few  years  ago. 

Among  the  first  physicians  of  Cambridge  may  be  men- 
tioned Dr.  John  Williams,    Dr.   Jonathan  Dorr  of   Dorr's 


266 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Corners,  Dr.  Post  of  Post's  Corners,  Dr.  Morris  of  Buskirk 
Bridge,  and  his  son,  Dr.  Philip  Van  Ness  Morris — a  class- 
mate of  William  Cullen  Bryant  and  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr., 
at  Williams  College  in  1 809-1810.  John  Pope  Putnam,  son 
of  Peter  Schuyler  Putnam  of  Williamstown,  was  a  grandson 
of  the  famous  Gen.  Israel  Putnam.    He,  also,  graduated  from 


The  Checkered  House,  built  by  Major  James  Cowden  during  the  Revolution, 
after  the  introduction  of  red  and  white  paint. 


Williams  College  in  1809  and  later  became  a  jurist.  He 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Dr.  Dorr,  and  was  located 
at  Dorr's  Corners  in  Cambridge  until  his  death  in  1867. 

Union  Academy  of  White  Creek  hamlet  in  Cambridge 
was  founded  in  18 10.  It  was  a  two-story  building,  sur- 
mounted by  a  belfry,  and  the  school  was  opened  by  Prof. 
Isaiah  Y.  Johnson.  Among  the  distinguished  students  may 
be  named  George  N.  Briggs,  son  of  the  blacksmith,  William 
Briggs  of  Briggs's  Corners,  Cambridge ;  and  Hiland  Hall  of 
Bennington.     Briggs  later  studied  law  at  Lanesboro,  Mass., 


Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  Districts  267 

and  was  elected  Governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1856;  and 
Hiland  Hall  studied  law  and  later  became  Governor  of 
Vermont.  He  was  the  author  of  The  Early  History  of 
Vermont.  Other  famous  pupils  included  the  subsequent 
Senator  Joel  Talmage,  Judge  Daniel  Talmage,  Judge  Olin, 
Gideon  Hard,  John  McDonald,  and  Gilbert  Morgan.  The 
Old  Academy  is  at  present  doing  duty  as  a  tenement  house. 
The  Cambridge  Washington  Academy  of  Cambridge 
Village  was  organized,  July  25,  18 14,  and  opened  by  Prof. 
David  Chazel,  a  gentleman  of  French  origin.  It  flourished 
for  fifty-eight  years,  closing  for  want  of  funds  in  1873.  The 
population  of  Cambridge  in  1790  was  4987.  The  celebra- 
tion of  Peace,  after  the  close  of  hostilities  with  England  in 

1 81 5,  was  heralded  in  White  Creek  by  a  procession  of  the 
veterans  of  1777,  headed  by  the  centurion,  Zebulon  Allen, 
bearing  the  American  Stars  and  Stripes. 

The  town  of  Cambridge  was  sub-divided  into  the  towns 
of  White  Creek  and  Jackson.  The  first  town-meeting  of 
White  Creek  was  held  at  Jaques  Johnson's  Inn  in  April, 

18 16.  Daniel  P.  Carpenter  was  chosen  postmaster  in  1822. 
Albany  County  was  sub-divided  into  Rensselaer  and  Wash- 
ington counties  in  1791.  Cambridge  town  came  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  latter,  and  Schaghticoke,  Pittstown,  and 
Hoosac  towns  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  former  county. 
Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d,  in  1792,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature  from  Rensselaer  County, 
an  office  which  he  filled  until  his  death  in  1802  at  the  age 
of  seventy-nine  years.  He  left  four  sons  and  several  daugh- 
ters. Johannes  Knickerbacker,  3d,  was  commissioned  colo- 
nel of  the  State  militia  during  the  War  of  18 12,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  Albany  Legislature ;  William  Knickerbacker 
built  the  colonial  mansion  half  a  mile  east  of  the  "Ho- 
stead,"  and  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Schaghticoke 
militia  during  General  Training  and  "  Nigger- Whipper "  of 


268  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Schaghticoke  slaves  until  1827.  He  died  in  1848,  two  years 
before  the  death  of  the  Knickerbacker  slave,  Tom  Mandolin. 
The  annual  feasts  of  the  " Albany  Gentlemen"  continued 
until  after  the  death  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d. 
After  the  death  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  3d,  the 
"Hostead"  descended  to  his  brother,  Abraham  Knicker- 
backer, whose  portrait  still  hangs  on  the  parlor  wall. 
Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker,  fourth  son  of  Colonel 
Knickerbacker,  2d,  built  his  mansion  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Tomhannac  Creek,  at  Schaghticoke  Hill.  He  became 
host  of  the  mayor  and  the  council  of  Troy  after  it  was  chart- 
ered, February  7,  1791,  as  an  offset  for  the  festivities  held 
at  the  Old  Mansion.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  Troy  Gen- 
tlemen arrived,  their  host  pretended  to  have  forgotten  the 
day  appointed.  He  assured  his  famished  guests  that  he 
was  wholly  unprepared  to  receive  them.  Enjoyment  of  the 
joke  followed  after  the  dining-room  doors  were  thrown  open 
upon  a  sumptuous  repast.  The  festivities  at  the  "Ho- 
stead"  were  of  a  more  dignified  character.  The  guests  were 
ushered  to  the  parlor  by  a  staff  of  slaves  and  their  carriages 
driven  to  the  cathedral-like  barns.  Colonel  Knickerbacker, 
2d,  and  his  son,  Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker,  according 
to  the  late  Hiram  Button,  owned  the  first  two  coaches  and 
sleighs  in  Schaghticoke.  Herman  Jansen  Knickerbacker 
married  three  helpmeets,  each  of  whom  brought  him  a  for- 
tune to  meet  his  social  extravagances.  During  President 
Madison's  office,  he  was  Judge  of  Rensselaer  County  and 
Congressman  at  Washington.  His  genial  and  humorous 
manner,  characteristic  of  the  Nederlanders,  won  him  the  life- 
long friendship  of  Washington  Irving,  and  he  is  mentioned 
in  Irving 's  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York.  Congress- 
man Knickerbacker  in  his  Washington  speech  said:  "I  want 
you  to  understand  that  I  am  Prince  of  the  Tribe  of  the 
Schaghticokes."     And  this  phrase  won  for  him  the  title  of 


269 


270  The  Hoosac  Valley 

"Prince"  Knickerbacker.  Dolly  Madison  once  asked  him 
the  difference  between  the  Dutch  Reformed  and  the  Presby- 
terian Church  creeds,  to  which  he  replied:  "Not  any,  Madam, 
except  one  congregation  sings  short  metre,  and  the  other 
long  metre."  "Prince"  Knickerbacker's  son  was  elected 
Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  West,  and  resembled 
his  father.  A  portrait  of  Judge  Knickerbacker  is  said  to 
be  in  the  possession  of  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Kate  Fay 
of  Lansingburgh.  "Prince"  Knickerbacker's  homestead  on 
Schaghticoke  Hill  was  burned,  and  the  estate  is  now  owned 
by  the  Tibbits  of  Hoosac. 

The  manorial  days  of  the  Colonel  Knickerbacker  race  are 
gone;  though  the  parlor  and  haunted  chambers  of  the  Old 
Mansion  still  contain  the  life-like  portraits  of  the  departed 
burghers,  whose  steadfast  gaze  follows  the  beholder  ques- 
tioningly.  In  their  accustomed  corners  still  stand  quaint 
arm-chairs  and  canopied  bedsteads  with  the  old-fashioned 
valance,  in  which  many  generations  of  Knickerbackers  have 
nodded  and  dozed  their  last  years  away.  The  old  clock  in 
the  parlor  corner  is  silent,  and  its  weary  hands  have  dropped 
from  their  pivot,  having  pointed  out  the  hours  of  conflict 
as  well  as  the  monotonous  years  of  peace,  since  Da  v.  Morra 
of  Muchty,  Holland,  turned  forth  the  clock  in  the  year  1625. 
He  carved  with  skill  the  phases  of  the  moon  on  the  dial- 
plate,  and  the  hands  have  pointed  out  the  birth,  marriage, 
and  death  hours, — hours  of  joy  and  hours  of  anguish  during 
the  past  two  centuries  in  the  Hoosacs'  "Vale  of  Peace." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    GREEN    MOUNTAIN    BOYS'     MILITIA     OF     BENNINGTON 

1764-1815 

To  live  by  law, 
Acting  the  law  we  live  by  without  fear, 
And  because  right  is  right,  to  follow  right 
Were  wisdom  in  scorn  of  consequences. 

Tennyson. 

Gov.  Benning  Wentworth's  Commission — Green  Mountain  Towns — 
Military  Grants — Land-Title  Controversies — Bennington  Militia — Stamp 
Act  Riot — Settlers'  Petition  to  King — Death  of  Samuel  Robinson — 
Treaty  with  Mahican  King — Pownal  Militia — Freehold  Court. 

GOV.  Benning  Wentworth's  Commission, *  dated  in  June 
1 741,  bounded  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  on  the 
adopted  Twenty- Mile  Line  between  New  York  and  New 
England.  This  boundary  was  published  by  the  Crown,  on 
Jno.  Mitchell's  Map,2  in  London  during  1755.  The  map 
was  used  later,  in  1783,  in  adjusting  the  American  and  British 
domains.  Governor  Clinton  and  Lieut.- Governor  Colden 
of  New  York,  however,  sent  letters  to  Governor  Wentworth 
and  challenged  the  Green  Mountain  territory  east  to  the 
Connecticut  River,  by  virtue  of  the  obsolete  Charter3  of 
New  York  granted  to  the  Duke  of  York  in  1664.  Governor 
Wentworth  ignored  these  messages  and  between  1749  and 
1765  signed  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  town  charters4 

1  Hiland  Hall,  Early  Hist.  Vermont,  App.  2,  p.  476. 

2  See  illustration,  p.  63.  3  See  illustration,  p.  38. 

4  Bennington  was  chartered  in  1749;  another  town  in  1750;  two  in  1752; 
seven  in  1753,  including  Stamford,  north  of  North  Adams,  and  Woodford, 
east  of  Bennington;  three  in  1754;  Pownal  in  1760;  sixty  in  1761,  including 
Shaftsbury,  Arlington,  and  Glastonbury,  north  of  Bennington;  ten  in  1762; 
and  thirty  in  1763. 

271 


272  The  Hoosac  Valley 

west  of  the  Connecticut, — half  of  the  two  hundred  and  forty- 
six  organized  towns  and  cities  in  Vermont  to-day. 

After  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  Con- 
necticut Pilgrims  migrated  to  the  Green  Mountain  towns 
bordering  Rensselaerwyck,  Walloomsac,  and  Schneider  pat- 
ents of  Dutch  Hoosac,  N.  Y.  These  patents  overlapped 
Pownal,  Bennington,  and  Shaftsbury  on  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants.  After  the  King's  Military  Proclamation, 
dated  October  7,  1763,  Lieut. -Governor  Colden  confirmed  one 
hundred  and  six  patents  to  the  British,  east  of  the  adopted 
Twenty-Mile  Line,  covering  portions  of  Bennington  and 
Shaftsbury.  Field  officers  were  entitled  to  five  thousand 
acres;  captains,  to  three  thousand;  staff  officers,  to  two 
hundred;  and  privates,  to  fifty  acres  each.  Most  of  the 
grantees,  however,  returned  to  their  homes  and  sold  their 
grants  to  James  Duane  and  other  land-agents.  The  his- 
torian, Hiland  Hall  of  Bennington,  records  that  out  of  three 
hundred  and  twelve  military  claims  that  overlapped  farms 
of  the  Bennington  County  settlers  subsequently  adjusted 
by  the  Governor  in  1797,  only  five  remained  in  the  names 
of  the  original  grantees. 

Lieut.  Duncan  McVicar,  an  officer  of  the  55th  Regiment 
of  Scottish  Highlanders,  father  of  Anna  Mc Vicar-Grant, 
author  of  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady,  published  in  1808, 
drew  a  thousand  acres.  He  purchased  three  thousand  acres 
more  of  brother  officers,  and  caused  the  vast  tract  to  be 
located  together  in  Durham  and  Clarendon  manors,  part  in 
Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  and  part  in  White  Creek,  N.  Y.  In  her 
cnildish  fancy,  his  daughter  contemplated  the  "simple 
felicity  which  was  to  prevail  among  the  amiable  and  innocent 
tenants  of  their  baronial  estate."  The  Rhode  Island  pro- 
prietors of  the  town  of  Shaftsbury,  chartered  by  Governor 
Wentworth,  1761,  however,  refused  to  be  tenants  to  anyone. 
Anna  McVicar-Grant  stated   that  their  conversation    was 


The  Green  Mountain  Boys'  Militia        273 

tainted  with  "Cromwellian  politics/ '  and  that  they  "refused 
to  be  slaves  to  arbitrary  power."  In  1770.  Lieutenant 
McVicar,  alarmed  at  the  widespread  declaration  of  Repub- 
licanism, embarked  with  his  family  for  Laggan,  Scotland. 
He  left  Clarendon  Manor  in  charge  of  his  friend  and  country- 
man, John  Munroe  of  West  Shaft sbury. 

Lieut. -Governor  Colden  published  a  Proclamation,  De- 
cember 28,  1763,  setting  forth  the  Yorker's  claim  to  the 
Green  Mountain  District  as  far  east  as  the  Connecticut 
River.  The  Bennington  County  settlers  were  paralyzed 
when  the  King  on  July  20,  1764,  confirmed  Colden's  Proc- 
lamation and  adjudged  the  Green  Mountain  towns  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  New  York. 

Those  of  Connecticut  and  their  Green  Mountain  grand- 
sons, as  the  Mahicans  and  Yorkers  learned,  came  to 
the  wilderness  with  a  "load  of  thought  .  .  .  knowing 
well  what  they  knew,  not  guessing  but  calculating!"  On 
October  24,  1764,  therefore,  the  Benningtonians  organ- 
ized their  first  company  of  Green  Mountain  Boys. 
The  muster-roll  contains  the  names  of  Capt.  John  Fassett, 
eleven  officers,  and  forty-five  members  of  rank  and  file, 
including  the  names  of  the  original  founders  of  the  town 
and  church. 

Capt.  Samuel  Robinson's  name  is  not  enrolled  among  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  since  at  that  time  he  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  detained  in  Albany  Jail.  During  the  latter 
part  of  October,  a  land-title  controversy  took  place  between 
several  Dutch  burghers  and  English  settlers  of  Pownal, 
on  New  Hampshire  Grants.  Justice  Samuel  Robinson, 
Sr.,  and  Sheriff  John  Ashley,  on  behalf  of  John  Horsford 
and  Isaac  Charles,  who  had  purchased  farms  in  Pownal, 
attempted  to  eject  Petrus  Voseburgh  (Vose)  and  Bastian 
Van  Deel  from  farms  upon  which  they  "squatted"  between 
1724  and  1760.  The  Sheriff  of  Rensselaerwyck  arrested 
18 


274  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Samuel  Robinson  and  John  Ashley  and  lodged  them  in 
Albany  Jail.  This  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  Grand 
Committee  and  militia  to  defend  the  Green  Mountain 
settlers'  rights  against  the  Dutch  land-claimants. 

The  case  of  Petrus  Voseburgh  was  finally  settled,  and  in 
1765  Patroon  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  granted  him  a  quit- 
claim deed  for  his  farm  overlapping  Pownal,  ostensibly 
for  his  honesty  in  rendering  quit-rent  and  for  his  general 
good  reputation.  The  Dutch  of  Pownal  became  bitter 
Tories  during  the  Revolution  and  caused  the  English  pro- 
prietors all  possible  annoyance.  The  present  Voseburgh 
homestead  was  built  by  a  son  of  Petrus  in  1802,  and  his 
descendants  still  reside  in  Orange,  N.  J.  The  Brimmer 
family  later  owned  Voseburgh's  Pownal  farm,  occupied 
to-day  by  Thomas  Brownell. 

The  historian,  Hiland  Hall  of  Bennington,  claims  that  the 
clandestine  marriage  of  the  play-actor  O'Brien,  with  the 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Ilchester  brought  about  the  exposure 
of  Lieut. -Governor  Colden's  fraudulent  methods  of  land- 
pirating.  The  King  in  Council  advised  the  Governor  of 
New  York  to  grant  Lord  Ilchester  and  others  sixty  thousand 
acres  for  O'Brien's  benefit  in  the  Mohawk  Valley.  That 
intervale  was  covered  with  charters,  and  O'Brien  reported 
Colden's  irregular  patent  methods  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
and  was  promised  a  vast  manor  in  the  Green  Mountains  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut.  But  before  this  was 
confirmed,  Parliament  passed  the  Stamp  Act,  March  8, 
1765,  and  the  Stamp  Riot  that  followed  prevented  its 
confirmation  for  lack  of  stamps. 

The  Stamp  Act  was  considered  an  infringement  upon  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  colonists.  The  Crown's  orator, 
Charles  Townsend,  supporting  the  Ministry's  side,  said: 
"These  Americans,  children  planted  by  our  care,  nourished 
by  our  indulgence,  protected  by  our  arms,  until  they  are 


■i* 


Of  tttftrtt  romjHt*y  of  Militia  in  the  town  od 
Bennington,  organized  (ktoberil,  J7M. 

OFFICERS 
JOHIS"  FA8SETT,   Captain. 
JAMES  BHEAKEXRIllCJ^ZMKfcttm/. 
ET.ISUA   FI£m,  JUnh«n. 


Leonard  IloBiNs8Bn*(  Sergeant. 
Hamukl  SA'rroito,:  2rf  Sergeant. 
Enr.yTtmn  Wood,  3rf  Sergeant. 

,  4rt  Sergeant, 

iEIUE. 

_  «T  Corporal. 

Johs  Wood,  2rf  Corporal. 

Samuel  Pratt,  f»<f  Corporal. 

Pbtbh  Hakwoqd,  4lA  Coporal. 

Bbha/ah  S^ort,  Drummer. 

Abraham  Newton, 
Oeofge  Perfgrey, 
Timothy  Pratt, 
Silas  Robinson, 
Moses  Robinson, 
Joseph  Richardson, 
Daniel  Rood, 
Benajah  Rood, 

Joseph"  SuFcr.], 
Daniel  Scott, 
Jonathan  Scott, 
Matthew  Scott, 
SMoses  Scott, 


TinioUlf  Abhotf. 
John  iHHptrobg, 

William  Bumhjujji^ 
John  Biurnhaln,  Jt'n^ 
jDavfd  Barnard, 
'ChrrOasri 
-Aaihan  Clack, 
.Nathan  Clark,  jun. 

MiCtosk, 

^faiWCrark,  3*.'  * 
Isaac  Clark, 

Cornelius  Cndy,  -  "VOIirer  Scott, 
Johnson  Cjtearalaod;  Phtneas  Scott, 
Hulttrt  Coeufiifi, '  Samuel  Scott, 
Samuel  Culler,  John  Smith, 

Isaac  Davis,  Xahn  Smith,  jun 

Elijah  Dewey,  '    Joseph  Smith, 

Enoch  Eastman,       J3£2tliw\  Smith, 


Jonathan  Kastman,. 


Smith, 


David  Fas  ill.  Elijah1  Story, 

John  Fassett,  jtm.  Thomas  Story, 

.Jonathan  Fassett,  James  Tubbs, 

Jum^kx  Fuller,  Jnwfm  Wickwire, 

,ffceret»#  Henderson,  Samuel  Wright. 
j$kdb*rt*tt  Harwo'od, 

#AJH13*E  ROBINSON,  Clcth 


It  is  pre*jtM.id  the  fon 
militia  cnuipan'i  lir*t  ort;  ■■ 
this  State,  will  giratifv  soi 
| 


ISTEjTojj  Tl 


vol,,  x: 


\x  iiuii  f.f  th 

-d,  probacy,  ,n  | 


:trinks. 


the  states  had  ref. 
Had  he  livef  to 
extent  to  vrhpF1 
guently  pushed,  an 
fears  both  as  to  i 
of  the  federal 
ordinate  povfersof 
doubtless  ha  vet 

J3ut  what 
but  mistaken  cc 
his  successors 
of  the  federal 
pulotts  zeal  for 
power  in  the  g« 
The  trowed    pate 
and  the  younger 
portant  questio 
there  was  nothing  • 
Hon  did   not  sane  J 
was  there  swrcel 
states,    which 
them,  and  handcl 
conslructive  cot 
head.     Jefl'ersa 
Republican  Hj 
siohs  ;  and 
straggle  bej»< 

Party— the 

a nee  of  the 

tes,and  the 
of  the  general 
and  reasonable! 
for  the  subvef 
an  cnlnr;, 
an  extent  as  1 
designs  of  tt 
the  ends  of  tl 
is  the  iju<i  aril 
Itls  the  true 
(ofore,  betw 
Federal   par 
maintain    the 
encroachments'] 
iLicitifnJ 


Muster-Roll  of  the  First  Company  of  Green  Mountain  Boys' 
Militia,  organized  at  Bennington  Centre,  New  Hampshire 
Grants,  now  Vermont,  October  24,  1764. 
27$ 


276  The  Hoosac  Valley 

grown  to  a  good  degree  of  strength  and  opulence,  will  they 
grudge  to  contribute  their  mite?" 

The  Colonists  were  represented  by  Colonel  Barre,  who 
replied: 

Children  planted  by  your  care?  No.  Your  oppression 
planted  them  in  America.  .  .  .  They  nourished  by  your 
indulgence?  No.  They  grew  by  your  neglect.  .  .  .  They 
protected  by  your  Arms!  .  .  .  They  have  nobly  taken  up 
arms  in  your  defence  ...  of  a  country  which,  while  its 
frontier  was  drenched  in  blood,  has  yielded  all  its  little 
savings  to  your  emolument. 

Nevertheless,  Parliament  passed  the  Stamp  Act;  and 
Benjamin  Franklin,  the  night  after,  wrote  Charles  Thompson 
of  Philadelphia  that:  "The  sun  of  liberty  is  set;  you  must 
light  up  the  candles  of  industry  and  economy."  Mr.  Thomp- 
son replied:  "Be  assured;  we  shall  light  up  torches  of  quite 
another  sort."  On  November  1,  1765,  Lieut. -Governor 
Colden  attempted  to  convey  the  stamps,  lately  arrived,  to 
Fort  George  on  Bowling  Green,  New  York  City.  A  vast 
torchlight  procession  of  the  colonists  appeared  in  the  fields, 
on  the  site  of  Central  Park,  carrying  two  images  on  a  scaf- 
fold, representing  Colden  and  the  Devil  whispering  in  his 
ear.  Those  images  were  burned  in  front  of  Fort  George 
along  with  all  of  the  governor's  carriages  and  sleighs.  The 
next  morning,  Colden  turned  all  the  stamps  over  to  the 
Mayor  of  New  York  and  they  were  deposited  in  the  City 
Hall. 

Twelve  days  after  the  Stamp  Riot,  Sir  Henry  Moore 
arrived  and  assumed  the  office  of  Governor  of  New  York. 
Anna  McVicar-Grant  in  1808  stated  that:  "If  the  business 
of  a  governor  was  merely  to  keep  the  governed  in  good 
humor,  none  was  better  fitted  for  that  office,"  than  Moore. 
The  Green  Mountain  settlers  of  Pownal,  Bennington,  Shafts- 


The  Green  Mountain  Boys'  Militia        277 

bury,  Arlington,  Sunderland,  Manchester,  and  Danby  re- 
solved to  apply  direct  to  Governor  Moore  for  relief  against 
the  fraudulent  patents  of  the  Yorkers  overlapping  the 
towns  granted  by  Governor  Went  worth.  During  December 
following  the  Stamp  Riot,  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  of 
Bennington  and  Jeremiah  French  of  Manchester  were 
chosen  agents  to  present  the  Settlers'  Petition  to  Governor 
Moore.  He  offered  them  no  aid,  and  in  March,  1766,  the 
Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  The  news  of  the  repeal  reached 
the  Bennington  settlers  in  May.  Governor  Moore  allowed 
the  settlers  from  June  6th  to  September  6th  in  which  to 
make  new  surveys  of  the  towns  granted  by  Governor  Went- 
worth  and  to  prove  their  titles.  This  was  impossible  as 
they  had  spent  their  all  in  furthering  their  settlements. 
On  September  7th,  the  New  York  surveyors  began  to  es- 
tablish the  Yorkers'  fraudulent  patents  covering  the 
Benningtonians'  farms. 

A  Petition1  signed  by  over  a  thousand  settlers  along  the 
western  border  of  the  Green  Mountain  District  was  prepared, 
and  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  chosen  agent  to  present  it 
to  the  King  in  Council.  He  was  accompanied  by  attorney 
William  Samuel  Johnson  of  Connecticut  and  arrived  in 
London,  January,  1767.  A  detailed  statement  of  the  settlers' 
grievances  was  prepared  by  Johnson,  and  the  Petition  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts 
and  another  for  the  Church  of  England  were  also  delivered 
to  Lord  Shelburne,  Secretary  of  State,  March  20,  1767. 

The  King  ordered  Lord  Shelburne  to  address  Governor 
Moore  a  letter, 2  dated  at  White  Hall,  April  1 1 ,  1 767,  together 
with  copies  of  the  Benningtonians'  petitions.  Governor 
Moore  and  the  Colden-Duane  land-pirating  league  were 
indignant  over  Samuel  Robinson's  assumed  statesmanship. 
On  June  10, 1767,  James  Duane,  Esq.,  aided  Governor  Moore 

1  See  Note  15  at  end  of  volume.  3  See  Note  16  at  end  of  volume. 


278  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  replied  to  Lord  Shelburne's  letter.  James  Duane  was 
proprietor  of  one-third  of  26,000  acres  in  the  first  grant, 
executed  by  Lieut.-Governor  Colden,  that  overlapped  the 
Bennington  County  settlers'  land  east  of  the  Twenty-Mile 
Line.  He  held  titles  of  nearly  50,000  acres,  39,000  of  which 
were  later  found  to  be  military  claims.  Duane  was  known 
in  the  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  valleys  as  the  "champion 
land-pirate  and  swindler,"  and  adviser  of  John  Tabor  Kemp, 
the  King's  attorney  during  the  Albany  Ejectment  Trials  of 
the  Benningtonians  in  1 766. 

Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  while  in  London  awaiting  the  de- 
cision of  the  King,  fell  ill  with  small-pox  and  died,  October 
27,  1767.  He  was  buried  in  Bunhill's  Burial-field,  connected 
with  Whitefield's  Church.  This  cemetery  is  said  to  contain 
the  dust  of  several  Americans  who  have  died  in  London,  in- 
cluding John  Bunyan,  Isaac  Watts,  and  George  Whitefield. 

During  the  perilous  year  of  1767,  Mrs.  Robinson's  log- 
cabin  at  Bennington  Centre  was  threatened  by  packs  of 
wolves  and  wandering  savages.  Samuel  Robinson,  Jr.,  and 
his  brothers  meanwhile  promoted  the  settlers'  cause  by  form- 
ing a  Treaty  of  Peace  with  the  Mahican  king  seated  at  Old 
Stockbridge.  They  negotiated  for  the  deeds  to  twelve  towns 
on  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac,  including 
Pownal,  Bennington,  Stamford,  Woodford,  Glastonbury, 
Shaftsbury,  Arlington,  and  Manchester. 

The  original  copy  of  the  Robinson  Treaty, x  dated  at  Ben- 
nington, November  30,  1767,  was  prepared  by  Leonard 
Robinson,  and  signed  by  one  hundred  and  one  settlers,  in- 
cluding Samuel  Robinson,  Jr.,  Moses  and  Silas  Robinson,  the 
Rev.  Jedidiah  Dewey,  Capt.  John  Fassett,  Stephen  Fay,  Seth 
Warner,  Daniel  Warner,  Lieut.  James  Breakenridge,  Brewster, 
Stewart,  Burnham,  Cochran,  Henry,  Hubbell,  Safford, 
Rudd,  Harwood,   Harmon,  and  others. 

1  See  Note  17  at  end  of  volume. 


The  Green  Mountain  Boys'  Militia        279 

An  effort  was  made  by  certain  land-owners  in  1786  to 
dispossess  several  occupants  of  their  Pownal  farms  along 
the  Twenty- Mile  Line.  This  resulted  in  the  famous  law- 
suit of  Gen.  Josiah  Wright  and  Mr.  Page  against  Joseph 
Wheeler  and  Amos  Potter.  Josiah  and  Solomon  Wright 
were  sons  of  Charles  Wright  of  Pownal  Tavern.  Josiah 
fought  in  the  Battle  of  Bennington  and  Solomon  figured 
later  in  the  Rutland  and  Pittsford  sieges.  Gen.  Josiah 
Wright  was  subsequently  elected  Judge  of  the  Probate 
Court,  State  Councillor,  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and 
Presidential  Elector  in  1805  and  18 13.  He  voted  for  both 
Jefferson  and  Madison  and  opened  the  first  post-office  of 
Pownal  in  a  small  room  on  the  east  side  of  his  tavern,  near 
the  site  of  the  late  Hon.  Amasa  Thompson's  residence. 
During  1807,  he  was  chosen  a  commissioner  by  the  Legis- 
lature to  build  the  State's  prison  at  Windsor.  Solomon 
Wright  was  chosen  Judge  of  Bennington  County  in  1 789  and 
Chief  Judge  in  18 14.  The  historian,  Hiland  Hall,  considered 
him  a  man  of  unsurpassed  eloquence  and  personal  attraction. 
The  colonial  mansion  of  the  latter  was  the  residence  of  Ruth, 
Sarah,  and  Ward  Wright,  and  still  stands  on  the  corner  of 
Main  and  River  streets,  near  the  Hoosac  River  Bridge  in 
the  village  of  Pownal. 

The  first  company  of  Pownal  militia  was  commanded 
by  Capt.  Eli  Noble.  He  resided  in  the  gambrel-roofed  house 
on  the  Hill  Road  to  Bennington,  known  as  the  Joseph  Barber 
Place.  The  Committee  of  Safety,  including  Thomas 
Jewett,  Ephraim  Seelye,  Jr.,  and  Josiah  Dunning,  remained 
the  "Court  of  Public  Safety"  until  after  Vermont's  admit- 
tance to  the  Federal  Union  in  1791. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  Freehold  Court  was  appointed 
and  a  Statute  of  Limitation,  requiring  all  Dutch  and  English 
proprietors  residing  on  farms  along  the  disputed  Twenty- 
Mile  Line  to  close  their  adverse  claims  before  a  specified 


280  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

date,  was  enacted.  The  Wheeler  and  Potter  vs.  Wright  and 
Page  case  in  Pownal  came  up  for  trial  the  last  day  of  the 
appointed  term.  The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  deter- 
mined that  the  Freehold  Court  should  not  assemble  on  the 
day  specified.  Two  bands  of  fictitious  Indians  were  organ- 
ized by  the  Pownal  militia,  one  to  keep  their  neighbors 
under  restraint  and  the  other  to  guard  the  Mount  Anthony 
Road  and  kidnap  Sheriff  Nathan  Clark  and  Judge  Isaac 
Tichenor  of  Bennington  on  their  journey  to  the  Pownal 
Court.  David  Stan  wood,  known  as  "Captain  Pete,"  was 
the  leader  of  the  latter  band  of  Indians.  Sheriff  Clark  was 
allowed  to  escape.  He  hastened  to  Pownal,  only  to  find 
another  band  of  Indians  in  command  of  the  Freehold 
court-room. 

Darkness  fell  over  the  Mount  Anthony  Pass  before  "  Cap- 
tain Pete's"  band  allowed  Judge  Tichenor  to  make  his 
escape  to  his  home.  An  attempt  was  made  later  to  appre- 
hend the  ambuscaders  in  the  farce,  but  no  proof  of  the  actors' 
identity  could  be  secured  and  the  matter  passed  in  silence. 
The  Pownal  Committee  of  Safety  for  a  number  of  years 
thereafter  exchanged  sly  winks  whenever  an  allusion  was 
made  to  the  "Statute  of  Limitation." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

FIRST   OPEN   REBELLION  AGAINST  THE   CROWN   AT   FORT 
BREAKENRIDGE 

i 766-1 775 

The  Hampshire  Grants,  in  particular, — a  country  unpeopled  and  almost  un- 
known in  the  last  war-now  abound,  in  the  most  active  and  most  rebellious 
race  on  the  continent,  and  hangs  like  a  gathering  storm  on  my  left. — General 
Burgoyne's  Letter  to  Lord  Germaine. 

Ejectment  Trials — Benningtonians'  Rebellion — Albanians'  Defeat — Green 
Mountain  Boys'  Militia — Reward  Offered  for  Ethan  Allen  and  his  Cap- 
tains— Capture  of  Remember  Baker — Ethan  Allen's  Remonstrance- 
Rebellion  of  Berkshire  Boys — Westminster  Massacre — Battle  of  Lexing- 
ton— Albanians'  Militia — Conference  with  Indians. 

THE  Bennington  settlers  engaged  Ethan  Allen  and  Coun- 
cillor Ingersoll  from  Connecticut  during  the  summer  of 
1766,  to  defend  their  cause  in  the  Albany  Court  of  Eject- 
ment. They  made  their  headquarters  at  the  Truman 
Squire  Inn,  south  of  the  Catamount  Tavern.  Allen  pro- 
ceeded to  Portsmouth  and  obtained  copies  of  Gov.  Benning 
Wentworth's  Commission1  of  New  Hampshire  Grants  and 
charters  of  the  towns  bordering  the  Twenty- Mile  Line  of 
New  York. 

Several  cases,  however,  had  been  prejudged,  regardless  of 
law  or  evidence,  before  Allen  arrived  at  Albany.  He  retired 
from  the  court-room,  but  was  waited  upon  during  the  evening 
by  John  Tabor  Kemp,  the  King's  attorney,  and  James 
Duane,  representatives  of  Lieut. -Governor  Colden's  land- 
pirating  league.  Colden,  according  to  documentary  records, 
pocketed  $25,000  in  patent  fees  for  his  share  in  regranting 

1  Hiland  Hall,  Early  Hist.  Vermont,  App.  2,  p.  476. 

281 


282  The  Hoosac  Valley 

the  Benningtonians,  farms  to  the  Albany  speculators.  Kemp 
and  Duane  attempted  to  bribe  Allen  and  Ingersoll.  They 
told  them  to  go  home  and  advise  the  settlers  to  make  the 
best  terms  that  they  could  with  their  new  landlords,  signi- 
fying that  "might  often  prevailed  against  right."  Allen 
coolly  replied  "that  the  Gods  of  the  valleys  are  not  the 
Gods  of  the  hills."  Kemp  desired  an  explanation  of  the 
challenging  phrase,  and  Allen  replied  "that  if  he  would 
accompany  him  to  Bennington,  the  meaning  should  be  made 
clear." 

Among  the  ejectment  cases  was  one  against  Lieut.  James 
Breakenridge  of  Irish  Corners,  now  Riverside,  in  the  north- 
west part  of  the  town ;  and  another  against  Dr.  Josiah  Fuller, 
residing  east  of  the  present  Thomas  Jewett  homestead,  in 
the  southeast  part  of  the  town.  After  Allen  returned  to 
Bennington  Centre,  the  Council  of  Safety  assembled  at  the 
Catamount  Tavern,  and  the  one  hundred  proprietors  formally 
resolved  that  they  would  defend  their  rights  with  their  lives. 

The  serving  of  the  King's  Writs  of  Ejectment  later  was 
looked  upon  as  a  picnic.  Capt.  Abraham  Cornelius  Cuyler, 
the  last  Royal  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Albany,  between  1770 
and  1778,  appointed  by  Lieut.-Governor  Colden,  directed 
Sheriff  Ten  Eyck  on  July  28,  1 771 ,  to  rally  over  three  hundred 
variously  armed  Albany  citizens,  including  councillors  Peter 
Sylvester,  John  R.  Bleecker,  Robert  Yates,  and  Christopher 
Yates.  After  the  first  day's  march,  they  encamped  at  St. 
Croix  Mills,  six  miles  below  Lieutenant  Breakenridge's  farm. 
Fifty  envious  inhabitants  of  Dutch  Hoosac  joined  the  Alban- 
ians at  St.  Croix  and  marched  up  the  Walloomsac  to  Henry 
Bridge,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  Breakenridge's  house. 

The  Bennington  militia  was  prepared  to  give  the  Albany 
speculators  a  warm  reception.  Captain  Marvin's  "Minute 
Men"  from  Stillwater  had  warned  the  Council  of  Safety  of 
the   Albanians'    march,  and  the  Breakenridge   house  was 


284 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


converted  into  a  fortified  stronghold.  Loopholes  were  made 
for  small  arms,  and  a  red  flag  was  adjusted  to  signal  from 
the  chimney-top  for  reinforcements.  Breakenridge's  house 
stood  about  a  mile  east  of  the  Twenty- Mile  Line,  near  the 


The  Northern  Portal  of  Henry  Bridge,  Irish  Corners,  now  Riverside,  West 
Bennington,  Vermont.  Here  Col.  Ethan  Allen  posted  several  of  his  Benning- 
tonian  Sentinels,  who  demanded  Sheriff  Ten  Eyck  to  halt  his  Regiment  of 
Albanians  on  their  march  to  serve  the  Crown's  Writ  of  Ejectment  on  Lieut. 
James  Breakenridge  and  Dr.  Josiah  Fuller,  July  2Q,  1771.  It  was  here  that  the 
first  armed  resistance  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  against  the  Crown  took  place. 


homes  of  Col.  Seth  Warner  and  Lieut.  William  Henry,  on  the 
St.  Croix  and  Bennington  Centre  Road. 

At  the  northern  portal  of  Henry  Bridge,  Col.  Ethan  Allen 
posted  six  sentinels,  who  ordered  Sheriff  Ten  Eyck  to  halt. 
A  parley  was  held  with  Captain  Cuyler  and  his  councillors, 
after  which  it  was  agreed  that  they  might  be  conducted 
without  arms  to  Lieutenant  Breakenridge's  house,  to  hold 
a  conference  with  the  Bennington  Council  of  Safety.  Sheriff 
Ten  Eyck  inquired  the  cause  of  the  assemblage  of  the  Ben- 


First  Open  Rebellion  against  the  Crown   285 

nington  militia  to  prevent  his  serving  the  Crown's  Writ  of 
Ejectment,  to  which  Breakenridge  replied  "that  the  town- 
ship had  resolved  to  take  his  farm  under  their  protection, 
and  that  they  intended  to  keep  it." 

Mayor  Cuyler  of  Albany  exclaimed  that  "  whatever  blood 
should  be  spilled  in  opposing  the  King's  Writ  would  be 
required  from  his  hands."  It  was  finally  agreed  that  Break- 
enridge should  hold  a  conference  with  his  friends  and  that 
Mayor  Cuyler  and  his  councillors  should  be  escorted  to 
Henry  Bridge  and  wait  half  an  hour  for  his  decision.  Break- 
enridge's  messenger  reported  that  neither  his  nor  the  Fuller 
farm  would  be  given  up  but  that  they  would  be  kept  at  any 
cost.  Captain  Cuyler  ordered  his  regiment  to  march  for- 
ward, although  only  thirty  of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men  proved  courageous  enough  to  venture  over  Henry 
Bridge.  Sheriff  Ten  Eyck  headed  the  band  up  to  the  barri- 
caded door  of  the  Breakenridge  house  and  attorney  Robert 
Yates  used  many  ingenious  arguments,  drawn  from  similar 
cases  in  his  knowledge  of  the  legal  lore  of  piracy,  in  order 
to  convince  the  Benningtonians  that  the  Albanians  had  a 
legal  right  to  eject  them  from  their  farms  and  appropriate 
their  vineyards  and  onion  crops  for  themselves,  unless  the 
Benningtonians  repurchased  their  lands  again  of  the  Dutch 
claimants.  Col.  Ethan  Allen  used  equally  convincing  ora- 
tory in  refuting  these  contentions. 

Sheriff  Ten  Eyck  seized  an  axe  and  threatened  to  break 
down  the  barricaded  door  of  Breakenridge's  house.  The 
garrison  hoisted  the  red  flag  from  the  chimney-top  as  a  signal 
to  the  soldiers  posted  thirty  rods  distant  along  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  and  a  hundred  polished  rifles  were  immediately 
aimed  at  Ten  Eyck.  This  sobered  the  "  Bully  Boys  of 
Helderberg"  and  Ten  Eyck  retired  with  his  men  to  Henry 
Bridge.  Mayor  Cuyler  formally  requested  his  troops  to 
march  five  miles  farther  southeast  and  serve  the  King's 


286  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Writ  of  Ejectment  upon  Dr.  Fuller,  but  they  refused  and 
returned  to  Albany  before  sunrise  on  July  30,  1771. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Yorkers,  a  Grand  Committee  was 
organized  in  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  and  a  regiment 
of  three  hundred  Green  Mountain  Boys  formed.  Seth 
Warner  commanded  the  Bennington  company;  Eli  Noble, 
the  Pownal  company;  Remember  Baker,  the  Arlington 
company;  Robert  Cochran,  the  Rupert  company;  Gideon 
Warren,  the  Sunderland  company,  and  Dr.  Ebenezer  Marvin 
the  Stillwater  company  of  "  Minute  Men"  on  the  New  York 
borders.  John  J.  Bleecker,  Ignace  Kipp,  Isaac  Clark, 
Eleazar  Eggerton,  and  Nathaniel  Schipman, J  Jr.,  were  among 
the  Dutch  Hoosac  scouts;  and  Peleg  Sunderland,  John  Smith, 
and  Sylvanus  Brown  were  the  scouts  of  the  Bennington 
Council  of  Safety.  A  general  military  organization  of  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys'  militia  took  place  in  1772,  and  Ethan 
Allen  was  elected  colonel  of  the  regiment.  Governor  Tryon 
of  New  York  later  published  a  proclamation,  offering  a 
reward  of  £50  each  for  Allen  and  his  captains  of  the 
"  Bennington  Mob." 

Colonel  Allen,  in  daring  mockery  of  Tryon's  proclamation, 
distributed  printed  handbills  offering  a  reward  of  £15  for 
the  capture  of  the  King's  attorney,  John  Tabor  Kemp,  and 
£10  for  James  Duane, — "those  common  disturbers  of  public 
peace,"  if  delivered  at  Fay's  Catamount  Tavern  at  Benning- 
ton. The  Tory  justice,  John  Munroe  of  Shaftsbury,  super- 
intendent of  Lieut.  Duncan  McVicar's  Clarendon  and 
Durham  manors,  engaged  a  band  of  fifteen  Yorkers  and 
captured  Capt.  Remember  Baker  of  Arlington,  March  22, 
1772.  Baker  was  routed  from  bed  and  seized  by  a  blood- 
hound and  threatened  with  instant  death  if  he  made  an 
outcry.  They  bound  Baker  without  his  coat,  and  his  right 
thumb  was  severed  during  the  act.     Upon  bidding  farewell 

1  Also  spelled  Chipman. 


First  Open  Rebellion  against  the  Crown    287 

to  his  wife  and  children,  Justice  Munroe  consoled  them 
with  the  promise  of  Baker's  immediate  execution  as  soon  as 
he  was  lodged  in  Albany  Jail. 

Munroe's  men  made  so  much  noise  that  Baker's  neigh- 
bors, Caleb  Henderson  and  John  Winston,  arrived  armed 
with  their  rifles.  Winston  was  seized  and  bound  with  Baker, 
but  Henderson  made  his  escape  to  Bennington  Centre  with 
news  of  Baker's  capture.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  scouts 
of  the  Council  of  Safety,  including  the  subsequently  titled 
Gen.  Isaac  Clark,  Col.  Joseph  Safford,  Maj.  Wait  Hopkins, 
Col.  David  Safford,  Timothy  Abbott,  Stephen  Hopkins, 
Elanthan  Hubbell,  Samuel  Tubbs,  Ezekiel  Brewster,  and 
Nathaniel  Holmes  mounted  their  swiftest  horses.  The 
rescuing  party,  after  a  thirty-mile  ride,  arrived  at  the  Hudson 
River  before  three  o'clock,  and  found  that  Munroe's  bandits 
had  not  crossed  the  ferry.  They  turned  and  galloped  north- 
ward and  soon  met  Munroe  and  recovered  Baker  more  dead 
than  alive.  Ethan  Allen  published  an  account  of  Baker's 
capture  in  the  Connecticut  Courant1  at  the  time. 

After  Baker's  rescue  Governor  Try  on  proposed  to  hear 
the  complaints  of  the  Benningtonians.  Parson  Jedidiah 
Dewey,  Ethan  Allen,  Robert  Cochran,  and  Remember 
Baker  prepared  a  petition  of  personal  grievances,  dated 
June  5,  1772,  and  Capt.  Stephen  Fay  and  his  son,  Dr.  Jonas 
Fay,  conveyed  it  to  Governor  Tryon.  He  suspended  all 
prosecutions  in  behalf  of  the  Crown,  and  the  Bennington 
settlers  assembled  at  the  meeting-house  and  offered  thanks. 

At  the  same  time  that  Governor  Tryon  made  overtures 
of  peace  to  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  his  surveyor  Cock- 
burn  was  locating  patents  in  the  Champlain  Valley.  Capts. 
Seth  Warner  and  Remember  Baker  chased  Cockburn  to 
Lake  George  and  captured  him  in  Bolton.     He  was  brought 

1  H.  W.  DePuy,  "  Ethan  Allen  and  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  of  '76," 
1853,  Vermont  Historical  Magazine,  p.  125. 


288  The  Hoosac  Valley 

to  Castleton  and  tried  before  the  Beach-Seal  Court,  con- 
victed, punished  with  the  "Twigs  of  the  Wilderness,"  and 
banished  from  the  Green  Mountains  upon  pain  of  death  if 
he  returned.  Lieut.  James  Breakenridge  of  Bennington  and 
Jehiel  Hawley  of  Arlington  were  chosen  as  delegates  later 
to  visit  England  and  petition  the  King  in  Council  for  pro- 
tection against  the  piracy  of  the  Yorkers. 

Ira  Allen  arrived  at  Bennington  Centre  in  1771.  During 
the  autumn  of  1772  he  joined  his  brothers  and  cousins 
in  the  Onion  or  Winooski  River  Land  Company,  heading  off 
the  land-claimants.  He  resided  with  Remember  Baker  at 
Colchester's  Falls  in  1773,  and  discovered  Colonel  Reid's 
Mills  near  Otter  Creek  Falls,  now  the  site  of  the  City  of 
Vergennes,  Vt.  Col.  Ethan  Allen  called  out  his  militia  and 
Reid's  Scotch  settlers  were  routed.  His  mill-stones  were 
broken,  and  Colonel  Reid  was  threatened  with  death  if  he 
dared  to  return. 

On  March  9,  1774,  the  Albany  Legislature,  therefore, 
passed  an  Act  of  Outlawry.  According  to  Samuel  Williams's 
History  of  Vermont  in  1794,  it  was  the  "most  mandatory  and 
despotic  of  anything  that  had  ever  appeared  in  the  British 
Colonies."  Col.  Ethan  Allen  and  Capts.  Warner,  Baker, 
Cochran,  Warren,  Noble,  Sunderland,  Smith,  Brown,  and 
Marvin  were  convicted  of  felony  without  trial.  Governor 
Tryon  offered  a  reward  of  £150  for  Allen's  capture  and  £50 
for  the  capture  of  each  of  his  captains. 

A  sarcastic  proclamation  was  prepared  by  Colonel  Allen, 
declaring  that: 

Printed  sentences  of  death  are  not  very  alarming  .  .  . 
if  the  governor  sends  his  executioners,  they  have  only  to  try 
the  titles  to  see  who  shall  prove  to  be  the  criminals  and  die 
first;  and  if  the  authorities  of  New  York  insist  upon  killing 
us  to  take  possession  of  our  vineyards,  come  on,  we  are 
ready  with  a  game  of  scalping  with  them. 


First  Open  Rebellion  against  the  Crown    289 

Tom  Rowley,  the  Green  Mountain  poet  laureate,  added  the 
following  Satire  to  the  famous  historic  document. 

When  Caesar  reigned  King  of  Rome, 
St.  Paul  was  sent  to  hear  his  doom, 
But  Roman  laws,  in  a  criminal  case 
Must  have  the  accuser  face  to  face, 
Or  Caesar  gives  flat  denial. 
But,  here  's  a  law  made  now  of  late 
Which  destines  men  to  awful  fate; 
And  hangs  and  damns  without  a  trial. 
Which  made  me  view  all  nature  through 
To  find  a  law  where  men  were  ti'd, 
By  legal  act  which  doth  exact 
Men's  lives  before  they  're  tried. 
Then  down  I  took  the  sacred  book 
And  turned  the  pages  o'er 
But  could  not  find  one  of  this  kind 
By  God  or  Man  before.   .  .  . 

Ethan  Allen's  Remonstrance  followed  the  Satire.     In  it  he 
and  his  captains  declared : 

We  now  proclaim  to  the  public,  not  only  for  ourselves 
but  the  New  Hampshire  grantees  and  occupants  in  general, 
that  the  spring  and  moving  cause  of  our  opposition  to  the 
government  of  New  York  was  self-preservation;  namely, 
first,  the  preservation  and  maintenance  of  our  property; 
and,  secondly,  since  that  government  is  so  incensed  against 
us,  therefore  it  stands  us  in  hand  to  defend  our  lives.  For 
it  appears,  by  a  late  set  of  laws  passed  by  the  legislature 
thereof,  that  the  lives  and  property  of  the  New  Hampshire 
settlers  are  manifestly  struck  at.  But,  that  the  public  may 
rightly  understand  the  essence  of  the  controversy,  we  now 
proclaim  to  these  law-givers,  and  to  the  World,  that  if  the 
New  York  Patentees  will  remove  their  patents,  that  have 
been  subsequently  lapped  and  laid  on  the  New  Hampshire 


290  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Charters,  and  quiet  us  in  our  possessions,  agreeably  to  his 
Majesty's  directions,  and  suspend  those  criminal  prosecu- 
tions against  us  for  being  rioters,  as  we  are  unjustly 
denominated,  then  will  our  settlers  be  orderly  and  sub- 
missive subjects  of  Government.  But  be  it  known  to  that 
despotic  fraternity  of  law-makers  and  law-breakers,  that 
we  will  not  be  fooled  nor  frightened  out  of  our  property. 

The  Colonial  Government  of  Massachusetts  Bay  came 
to  an  end  on  August  16,  1774,  when  the  Berkshire  militia 
drove  the  judges  of  the  Crown  from  the  court-house  in  Old 
Stockbridge.  Later,  on  September  25,  1776,  it  proved 
necessary  to  build  a  jail  to  secure  the  Tories  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Green  Mountains. 

Several  Tories  resided  in  Pownal,  Shaft sbury,  and  Arling- 
ton, on  the  borders  of  New  York.  The  venerable  Dr. 
Samuel  Adams  of  Arlington  advised  the  settlers  to  repur- 
chase their  farms  of  the  New  York  claimants.  He  was  tied 
in  an  arm-chair  and  hoisted  twenty-five  feet  to  the  top  of 
the  Catamount  Tavern  sign-post  for  his  council,  to  the 
merriment  of  a  large  crowd.  After  two  hours  disgrace  he 
was  lowered  and  advised  to  "go  and  sin  no  more."  Elder 
Benjamin  Hough,  the  first  minister  of  the  Baptist  Church 
of  Durham  Manor,  now  Shaftsbury,  accepted  a  commission 
as  a  New  York  justice,  January  22,  1775.  In  consequence, 
he  was  tied  to  a  sour-apple  tree  in  Sunderland  four  days  later, 
and  received  two  hundred  stripes  of  the  "Twigs  of  the 
Wilderness"  on  his  back.  He  was  banished  from  the  region 
forever,  but  later  preached  at  Mapleton  Baptist  Church  in 
Hoosac,  N.  Y. 

Samuel  Adams  of  Boston,  Father  of  the  Revolution,  was 
a  kinsman  of  Dr.  Samuel  Adams  of  Arlington.  He,  however, 
inspired  the  spirit  of  independence  and  unity  among  the 
colonists,  and  eight  months  before  the  Battle  of  Lexington, 
the    first    Continental    Congress   met   at    Philadelphia    in 


First  Open  Rebellion  against  the  Crown   291 

September,  1774.  On  March  14,  1775,  the  Albany  Council 
attempted  to  rule  the  Westminster  Court  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Green  Mountains,  although  the  settlers  had  passed 
resolutions  in  sympathy  with  the  American  patriots  and 
desired  to  suspend  Court  sessions. 

The  Sheriff  of  Albany  County  headed  his  militia  and, 
after  demanding  entrance  to  the  Westminster  Court  House 
a  second  time  without  gaining  admittance,  ordered  his  men 
to  fire  upon  the  settlers.  Ten  were  wounded,  William  French 
and  another  man  dying  from  their  wounds. 

Over  five  hundred  armed  settlers  from  the  Green  Moun- 
tains, New  Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts  arrived  at  West- 
minster the  following  morning.  This  massacre  was  followed 
on  April  19,  1775,  by  the  firing  of  Major  Pitcairn's  pistols, 
opening  the  Battle  of  Lexington.  Pitcairn's  pistols  were 
presented  to  Gen.  Israel  Putnam  after  the  battle,  and  de- 
scended to  his  son,  Peter  Schuyler  Putnam  of  Williamstown, 
and  later  to  his  grandson,  John  Pope  Putnam,  a  resident 
of  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  until  his  death  in  1868. 

News  of  the  Battle  of  Lexington  reached  Albany,  May  1, 
1775,  whereupon  the  Committee  of  Safety  met  at  John 
Lansing's  Inn.  Lucas  Cassidy  was  sent  forth  to  beat  a 
drum  and  John  Ostrander  to  ring  a  bell  to  summon  the 
inhabitants  to  the  market-house.  The  Albanians  wrote 
the  Boston  Committee  of  War  that:  "They  desired  to  pro- 
mote the  weal  of  the  American  Cause,"  and  since  they  were 
born  free,  they  proclaimed  that,  "they  would  live  and  die  so, 
and  transmit  that  inestimable  blessing  to  posterity."1 

On  May  4,  1775,  the  Albany  Committee  organized  a  regu- 
lar militia.  Directly  after  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  in  June, 
both  Boston  and  New  York  harbors  were  fortified,  although 
William  Tryon  arrived  from  England  and  took  the  Great 
Seal  as  the  last  Royal  Governor  of  New  York. 

1  Cuyler  Reynolds,  Albany  Chronicles,  pp.  274-275. 


292  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Ma j. -Gen.  Philip  Schuyler,  Maj.  Joseph  Hawley,  Talbot 
Francis,  Oliver  Wolcott,  and  Volckert  Douw,  on  August  15th, 
held  a  conference  with  the  Mahican  and  Mohawk  sachems 
at  the  Old  Dutch  Church,  in  Albany,  in  order  to  tell  them 
the  cause  of  the  Revolution  against  King  George.  They 
said: 

Many  of  his  councillors  are  proud  and  wicked  men.  .  .  . 
They  tell  us  now  that  they  will  slip  their  hands  into  our 
pockets,  without  asking,  as  if  they  were  their  own  pockets, 
and  will  take  at  their  pleasure  from  us  our  charters  .  .  . 
our  plantations,  our  houses  and  goods,  whenever  they  please, 
without  asking  our  permission.  .  .  .  This  is  a  family  quarrel 
between  us  and  Old  England!  You  Indians  are  not  con- 
cerned in  it.  We  do  not  want  you  to  take  up  the  hatchet 
against  the  king's  troops.  We  desire  that  you  remain  at 
home  and  join  neither  party,  but  keep  the  hatchet  deeply 
buried. T 

xCuyler  Reynolds,  Albany  Chronicles,  pp.  277-278. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  HEROES   OF  FORT  TICONDEROGA, *    MAY  IO 
1775 

But  for  you,  there  is  no  middle  fortune  between  death  and  victory.  Let  this  be 
but  well  fixed  in  your  minds,  and  once  again  I  say  you  are  conquerors! — Hanni- 
bal's Address  to  the  Carthaginians,  before  their  March  against  the  Roman 
Capitol. 

Samuel  Adams — John  Brown — James  Easton  of  Massachusetts — Samuel 
Parsons — Edward  Mott — Noah  Phelps  of  Connecticut — Ethan  Allen — 
Seth  Warner — Samuel  Herrick  of  Vermont — Rallying  Salisbury,  Berk- 
shire, and  Bennington  Boys — Benedict  Arnold  and  Colonial  Rivalry — ■ 
Surrender  of  Ticonderoga  to  Ethan  Allen — Capture  of  Ethan  Allen 
by  the  British  at  Montreal,  September  25,  1775 — The  Hero  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga. 

THE  inhabitants  of  the  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  valleys 
proved  the  first  to  take  definite  action  against  the 
oppressors  of  the  Crown.  The  first  Revolutionary  Councils 
of  Safety  met  between  Salisbury,  Pittsfield,  Williamstown, 
and  Bennington  Centre. 

Dr.  Samuel  Adams,  the  "Father  of  the  Revolution," 
assembled  with  Joseph  Warren  and  others  of  Massachusetts, 
February  15,  1775,  to  consider  diplomatic  correspondence 
with  the  Canadian  officials  before  the  formal  Declaration 
of  American  Independence.  John  Brown  of  Pittsfield,  a 
spirited  young  lawyer  lately   graduated   from   Yale,    was 

1  Rev.  Zadoc  Thompson,  Lecture  at  Unveiling  of  Kinney's  Statue  of  Ethan 
Allen  at  Burlington,  Vermont,  March  16,  1852;  Gov.  Hiland  Hall,  "  The  Hero 
of  Ticonderoga  in  1775,"  Vt.  Hist.  Soc.  October  18,  1869;  Hon.  L.  E.  Chit- 
tenden, "  Who  Took  Ticonderoga?"  Vt.  Hist.  Soc,  Oct.  8,  1872;  Prof.  A.  L. 
Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  32,  33,  60,  1899. 

293 


294  The  Hoosac  Valley 

appointed  to  convey  the  letters  of  the  Boston  Committee 
of  War  to  Canada  during  the  latter  part  of  February.  He 
was  also  advised  to  make  observations  of  the  strength  of  the 
British  fortress  on  Lake  Champlain. 

On  his  march  northward,  Brown  consulted  with  the  Coun- 
cils of  Safety  at  Williamstown  and  at  Bennington.  Col. 
Ethan  Allen  of  the  latter  place  appointed  Peter  Sunderland, 
one  of  his  trusted  messengers,  to  accompany  Brown  to 
Canada.  Allen  assured  Brown  that  if  the  sum  of  £300  were 
advanced  to  equip  an  expedition  against  Fort  Ticonderoga, 
he  would  lead  his  Green  Mountain  Boys'  militia  against 
the  formidable  fortress.  Brown  despatched  a  letter  to 
Adams  and  Warren  of  the  Boston  Council  and  advised 
a  speedy  reduction  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  before  colonial 
hostilities  began. 

The  messages  of  the  Councils  of  Safety  during  the  Revo- 
lution were  executed  with  speed  and  secrecy.  Col.  Samuel 
H.  Parsons,  an  assemblyman  of  Connecticut,  while  returning 
from  Massachusetts  to  Hartford,  April  26,  1775,  met  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  a  flour  merchant  of  New  Haven,  marching  with 
a  band  of  volunteers  to  Cambridge,  Mass.  Arnold  reported 
the  weakened  condition  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  to  Assembly- 
man Parsons,  and  remarked  that  the  cannon  would  be  useful 
for  the  Continental  Army.  He  made  no  allusion,  however, 
to  his  own  secret  dreams  of  capturing  the  Fort. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Joseph  Trumbull  in  June,  Assem- 
blyman Parsons  affirms  that  he  arrived  at  Hartford,  Thurs- 
day morning,  April  27th,  after  meeting  Arnold.  He  held 
a  council  with  his  friends,  Col.  Sam  Wyllys  and  Mr.  Dean, 
and  stated  that:  "They  first  undertook  and  projected  the 
taking  of  Ticonderoga."  He  consulted  Thomas  Mumford, 
Christopher  Leffingwell,  and  Adam  Babcock  later,  and  they 
obtained  the  required  sum  of  £300  to  finance  the  expedition 
on  their  personal  notes  from  the  Connecticut  Treasury. 


The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  295 

The  sum  of  money  was  entrusted  to  Adam  Babcock,  Noah 
Phelps,  and  Bernard  Romans  on  Friday,  April  28th,  and 
they  marched  to  Col.  Ethan  Allen  at  Bennington  as  advance 
messengers  from  Capt.  Edward  Mott  of  the  Hartford  Coun- 
cil of  Safety.  Salisbury,  Conn.,  was  at  that  time  the  home 
of  Heman  and  Levi  Allen.  Heman  Allen  joined  Adam 
Babcock  and  his  party  the  next  day  and  pushed  on  to  locate 
Ethan  Allen  and  his  captains. 

Heman  Allen,  on  his  march  to  Bennington,  enlisted  young 
Josiah  Dunning,  a  member  of  Capt.  Eli  Noble's  Pownal 
company  of  militia.  He  organized  a  volunteer  company  and 
chose  Samuel  Wright,  eldest  son  of  Landlord  Charles  Wright, 
as  their  captain,  and  marched  direct  to  Castleton,  twenty- 
five  miles  east  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.  Josiah  Dunning,  then 
twenty  years  of  age,  was  a  son  of  Michael  Dunning  from 
Newton,  Conn.,  who  settled  on  a  farm  at  the  foot  of  North- 
west Hill,  opposite  the  "Weeping  Rocks"  in  Pownal,  Vt., 
during  1762. 

Captain  Mott  arrived  at  Salisbury  and  was  joined  by  Levi 
Allen  and  fifteen  other  volunteers  before  he  reached  Pitts- 
field,  where  he  held  a  council  of  war  with  John  Brown  and 
Col.  James  Easton.  Colonel  Easton  rallied  sixty  Berkshire 
Boys  in  Lanesboro,  Cheshire,  Adams,  New  Ashford,  Han- 
cock, and  Williamstown. 

Capt.  William  Douglass  and  his  Hancock  company, 
together  with  Capt.  Israel  Harris's  Williamstown  volunteers, 
included  several  soldiers  who  subsequently  fought  in  the 
Battle  of  Bennington.  Captain  Harris  in  1775  was  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age  and  hailed  from  Cornwall,  Conn.,  the 
home  of  the  Allen  brothers.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Clark  Morse,  the  hatter,  who  settled  in  Williamstown,  on 
Northwest  Hill,  two  miles  south  of  Michael  Dunning's  Pownal 
farm. 

Captain  Mott  and  Colonel  *Easton,  with  their  seventy-six 


296  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Salisbury  and  Berkshire  volunteers,  assembled  on  the 
Square  in  Williamstown  before  they  marched  to  Bennington 
Centre.  Noah  Phelps,  Adam  Babcock,  Bernard  Romans,  and 
Heman  Allen  had  meanwhile  marched  forward  to  act  their 
part.  Heman  Allen  located  his  brother,  Ethan  Allen,  in 
Arlington;  Noah  Phelps  and  Bernard  Romans  were  sent  to 
reconnoitre  Fort  Ticonderoga,  and  Adam  Babcock  awaited 
the  arrival  of  Ethan  Allen  at  the  Catamount  Tavern  at 
Bennington  Centre.  Bernard  Romans,  one  of  the  first 
American  map-makers,  was  a  friend  of  Benedict  Arnold. 
He  was  in  an  envious  mood  and  deserted  Noah  Phelps  on 
his  march  to  the  Fort.  Arnold  reports  that  he  sent  him 
later  to  Albany.1  Captain  Mott  recorded  that  his  men 
were  "all  glad'*  when  Romans  deserted  the  expedition, 
since  he  had  caused  much  trouble  on  the  march.  Romans 
was  falsely  reported  by  Arnold's  admirers  as  "the  emi- 
nent engineer  and  leading  spirit"  of  the  Ticonderoga  ex- 
pedition. 

Colonel  Allen  and  Captains  Warner  and  Herrick  were 
on  hand  at  the  Catamount  Tavern  to  welcome  Captain 
Mott,  Colonel  Easton,  John  Brown,  and  Captains  Douglass 
and  Harris.  It  was  one  of  the  most  famous  councils  of 
war  in  the  history  of  the  Revolution.  Colonel  Allen  later 
sent  Gershorm  Beach  of  Rutland,  a  fleet-footed  messenger, 
to  rally  the  Green  Mountain  Boys'  militia.  Within  twenty- 
four  hours  he  covered  a  circuit  of  sixty  miles  between 
Castleton,  Rutland,  Pittsford,  Brandon,  Middlebury,  and 
Whiting  to  Hand's  Cove  in  Shoreham,  on  the  east  shore  of 
Lake  Champlain,  opposite  Fort  Ticonderoga. 

Beach  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Tory,  Maj.  Philip 
Skene,  and  visited  Skenesboro  Manor  now  Whitehall,  Sat- 
urday, May  6th.  Major  Skene  was  not  at  home,  but  his 
son  informed  Beach  that  he  was  momentarily  expected, 

1  See  Note  18  at  end  of  volume. 


Col.  Ethan  Allen,  the  Hero  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  in  the  act  of  demanding 
the  surrender  of  Captain  De  Laplace  and  his  British  Garrison  and  Flag  at 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  May  10,  1775. 
To-morrow  eve  must  the  voice  be  still, 
And  the  step  must  fall  unheard, 
The  Briton  lies  by  the  blue  Champlain, 

Bryant:    The   Green  Mountain  Boys,  at  the  Castleton  Council  held 
Monday  evening,  May  8,  1775. 

297 


In  Ticonderoga' s  towers, 
And  ere  the  sun  rise  twice  again, 
Must  they  and  their  lake  be  ours. 
Boys,  at  the  Castleton  Council 


298  The  Hoosac  Valley 

adding  that  his  father  was  to  be  appointed  Governor  of  New 
York,  and  that  it  was  proposed  to  rebuild  the  fortresses  at 
Ticonderoga  and  at  Crown  Point. 

Within  seventy-five  hours  after  Beach  completed  his 
circuit  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  rallied,  Sunday  evening, 
May  7th,  at  Castleton,  sixty  miles  north  of  Bennington, 
and  less  than  twenty-five  miles  east  of  Fort  Ticonderoga. 
A  council  of  war  was  held,  Monday  evening,  May  8th. 
Capt.  Edward  Mott  of  the  Connecticut  Committee  of  War 
was  chosen  chairman. 

It  was  formally  voted  that  Colonel  Allen  should  be  first 
in  command  of  the  expedition ;  Colonel  Easton,  second ;  and 
Captain  Warner,  third, — ranking  according  to  the  number 
of  their  volunteers  enlisted.  Each  company  was  assigned 
a  special  part  in  the  expedition.  Capt.  Samuel  Herrick  of 
Bennington  was  sent  with  thirty  men  to  seize  Major  Skene 
and  his  boats  about  East  Bay,  which  were  to  be  rowed  down 
Lake  Champlain  to  Shoreham  before  dawn,  May  10th,  in 
order  to  convey  Allen's  militia  over  the  lake  to  surprise 
the  garrison  of  Fort  Ticonderoga.  Captain  Douglass  of  the 
Hancock  company  was  appointed  to  visit  his  brother-in-law, 
Smith,  residing  at  Brideport,  twelve  miles  down  Lake 
Champlain,  and  endeavor  by  some  stratagem  to  get  pos- 
session of  the  King's  boats  at  Crown  Point  and  row  them 
up  to  Shoreham  before  light  on  May  10th. 

Capt.  Noah  Phelps,  in  the  habit  of  a  Yankee  farmer,  visited 
Fort  Ticonderoga  meanwhile  and  observed  the  garrison's 
strength.  He  engaged  the  lad,  Nathan  Beeman,  to  meet 
Col.  Ethan  Allen  and  his  militia  before  sunrise  on  May  10th 
and  conduct  them  through  the  wicket  gate  to  the  British 
stronghold.  Phelps  affected  a  most  awkward  appearance 
and  inquired  for  a  barber,  under  the  pretence  of  desiring  to 
be  shaved.  He  amused  the  gallants  of  Old  England  with  his 
simple  questions  and  meanwhile  observed  the  position  of 


The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         299 

the  artillery.  He  certainly  returned  to  Colonel  Allen's 
camp  a  type  of  those  Yankee  varlets  of  Connecticut  de- 
scribed by  Washington  Irving  as  belonging  to  the  Dutch 
period  of  "Fort  Good  Hope." 

After  the  close  of  the  Castleton  Council,  May  8th,  a  gust 
of  confusion  arose  with  the  arrival  of  Benedict  Arnold.  He 
was  clad  in  a  colonel's  epauletted  uniform,  accompanied  by 
a  colored  servant.  Each  was  mounted  upon  a  very  much 
winded  steed.  Arnold  presented  Chairman  Mott  his  Massa- 
chusetts Commission *  as  colonel  of  an  expedition  to  be  sent 
against  Fort  Ticonderoga.  He  claimed  that  it  gave  him 
the  right  to  command  Colonel  Allen's  Green  Mountain 
Boys'  militia,  financially  equipped  by  the  Connecticut  Com- 
mittee of  War. 

Colonial  rivalry,  personal  honor,  and  national  glory 
were  all  at  stake.  The  consternation  of  Chairman  Mott 
and  Colonel  Allen's  Green  Mountain  Boys  was  intense. 
The  latter  swore  in  chorus  that  rather  than  be  led  by  Col- 
onel Arnold  against  Ticonderoga,  they  would  disband  and 
return  to  their  homes.  Arnold's  Commission  advised  him 
"to  enlist  his  own  men,  not  to  exceed  four  hundred,"  at  the 
expense  of  the  Massachusetts  Congress,  and  he  was  directed 
"to  act  according  to  best  skill  and  discretion  for  publick  in- 
terest." Chairman  Mott  called  a  second  council,  and  it  was 
decided  that  Benedict  Arnold  should  join  the  expedition, 
with  rank  of  colonel,  but  without  separate  command. 
It  was,  however,  voted  that  Colonel  Allen  should  head 
the  central  file;  Colonel  Easton,  the  right  file;  and 
Colonel  Arnold,  the  left  file,  upon  marching  against  Fort 
Ticonderoga. 

After  Benedict  Arnold  held  his  interview  with  Assembly- 
man Parsons  of  Connecticut,  April  26th,  he  proceeded  to  the 
Massachusetts  Committee  of  War  at  Cambridge  and  re- 

1  See  Note  19  at  end  of  volume. 


300  The  Hoosac  Valley 

vealed  his  plans  for  capturing  Fort  Ti.  His  Commission, x 
dated  May  3,  1775,  was  signed  by  Chairman  Benjamin 
Church,  Jr.,  and  Secretary  William  Cooper  of  the  Committee 
of  Safety.  He  was  assigned  a  colonel's  uniform,  a  colored 
servant,  steed,  and  funds  to  enlist  his  own  volunteers. 

Col.  Benedict  Arnold  journeyed  from  Cambridge  to  Old 
Deerfield;  thence  over  Hoosac  Mountain  to  Williamstown. 
According  to  his  Bill  of  Expenses,2  he  left  £18  with  Captain 
Oswold,  May  4th,  to  rally  his  Shrewsbury  militia,  and  on 
May  6th,  Arnold  crossed  the  Deerfield  ferry  and  breakfasted 
at  Landlord  Talah  Barnard's  Tavern  in  Old  Deerfield  Village. 
He  purchased  a  herd  of  fat  cattle  of  Thomas  W.  Dickenson, 
and  engaged  him  and  his  brother,  Consider,  to  drive  the 
herd  to  Fort  Ticonderoga.  The  bargain,  with  usual  "toddy- 
sticks,"  was  confirmed  over  the  bar  in  the  North  Room  of  the 
inn.  Meanwhile  the  Negro  servant  had  the  horses  shod 
and  they  rode  over  Hoosac  Mountain. 

While  at  Capt.  Moses  Rice's  Charlemont  Inn,  Arnold 
enlisted  a  lad  named  White,  who  became  the  grandfather 
of  Joseph  White,  the  late  Treasurer  of  Williams  College. 
Young  White  marched  to  Ticonderoga  in  less  than  a  week 
and  was  present  at  Allen's  and  Arnold's  contest  for  the 
rights  of  command  of  the  captured  Fort.  He  related  to 
his  grandson  that  Col.  Ethan  Allen  "lacked  grit,"  and  that 
Allen  made  concession  to  Arnold  by  finally,  on  May  13th, 
placing  him  in  command  of  Crown  Point  and  the  Lake 
Champlain  schooner. 

Colonel  Arnold  arrived  at  Capt.  Nehemiah  Smedley's 
Green  River  homestead  in  Williamstown  on  the  evening 
of  May  6th.  Smedley's3  house  was  not  finished  until  after 
the  surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga  in  1  yjy7  although 
the  cellar  kitchen  in  1775,  with  its  large  stone  oven,  was  in 

1  See  Note  19  at  end  of  volume.  a  See  Note  18  at  end  of  volume. 

*  See  illustration,  Chapter  VIII. 


The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         301 

baking  order.  Arnold  left  £3  with  Captain  Smedley,  accord- 
ing to  his  Bill  of  Expenses,  to  bake  a  batch  of  rye  and 
Indian  bread,  to  be  forwarded  later  by  the  Dickenson 
brothers  to  Fort  Ticonderoga. 

It  was  in  Williamstown  that  Colonel  Arnold  first  heard 
of  Capt.  Edward  Mott's  Connecticut  council  of  war  and 
Colonel  Easton's  and  Colonel  Allen's  rally  of  the  Berkshire 
and  Bennington  Boys.  In  consequence,  Arnold  headed  his 
steed  direct  for  Castleton  early  on  May  7th. 

The  Green  Mountain  Boys  forced  Arnold  to  accept  his 
fate  after  the  second  Castleton  Council,  May  8th.  It  was 
late  before  Captain  Herrick's  party  set  out  that  night  and 
captured  Maj.  Philip  Skene.  A  guard  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  Skene's  Whitehall  Manor  and  all  available  boats 
were  seized  and  rowed  to  Shoreham.  Major  Skene  and  his 
two  lieutenants  were  escorted  by  Captain  Nichols  and  Lieu- 
tenants Hickok  and  Halsey  to  Gov.  Jonathan  Trumbull  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  where  they  arrived,  May  12th. 

It  proved  a  serious  problem  to  seize  boats  sufficient  in 
number  to  convey  all  of  Colonel  Allen's  regiment  over  Lake 
Champlain  to  Fort  Ticonderoga  before  the  dawn.  Capt. 
William  Douglass,  on  the  evening  of  May  8th,  marched  toward 
Crown  Point.  He  stopped  at  the  home  of  Capt.  John  Chip- 
man, x  undoubtedly  a  son  of  the  famous  Tory  hunter-scout, 
Nathaniel  Bumppo-Shipman,  Sr.,  of  Falls  Quequick  in 
Dutch  Hoosac.  Douglass  confided  his  scheme  of  capturing 
the  King's  boats  at  Crown  Point,  and  his  conversation  was 
overheard  by  James  Wilcox  and  Joseph  Tyler.  These  lads 
conceived  of  a  secret  plan  of  decoying  Old  Black  Tom,  the 
commander  of  Major  Skene's  oar-boat  near  Willow  Point. 
They  hastily  dressed,  seized  their  guns  and  a  jug  of  rum — 
the  latter  known  to  be  the  most  powerful  weapon  with  which 
to  waylay  Tom  and  his  oarsmen.     On  their  journey  Wilcox 

rAlso  spelled  Shipman  or  Schipman. 


302  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  Tyler  were  joined  by  four  neighboring  boys.  Old 
Tom  was  soon  hailed  and  the  boys  offered  to  help  row  his 
boat  to  Shoreham  if  he  would  carry  them  immediately  to 
join  a  hunting  party  awaiting  them  at  that  place.  This 
stratagem  proved  successful,  with  the  aid  of  the  "little 
brown  jug." 

Captain  Douglass  and  his  party  meanwhile  secured  a 
scow  and  a  few  small  boats  at  Brideport,  and  Noah  Phelps 
and  Nathan  Beeman  posted  at  their  appointed  places, 
quietly  fishing  on  Lake  Champlain,  greatly  aided  the  expe- 
dition. About  one  hundred  and  eighty  troopers  assembled 
at  Shoreham  before  dawn,  May  ioth,  ready  to  advance 
against  the  Fort,  and  several  of  Arnold's  volunteers  arrived 
also  the  next  morning. 

The  boats  at  Shoreham  conveyed  only  eighty-three  men 
over  the  Lake,  including  Colonel  Allen,  Captain  Mott, 
Colonel  Easton,  and  Colonel  Arnold,  and  their  men.  Capt. 
Seth  Warner's  volunteers  awaited  the  return  of  the  boats 
to  convey  them  later,  but  time  was  precious  and  the  big 
oar-boats  moved  slowly.  The  rising  sun  brightening  the 
horizon  led  Colonel  Allen  to  hold  a  council  of  war.  It  was 
hastily  agreed  that  if  they  delayed  until  Warner's  troops 
arrived,  Captain  De  Laplace  and  his  British  garrison  would 
be  astir. 

Colonel  Allen  speedily  formed  his  eighty-three  men  into 
three  files,  headed  by  Nathan  Beeman  and  himself.  The 
road  leading  from  the  Lake  Champlain  landing  permitted 
three  men  to  march  abreast.  But  before  marching  orders 
were  given,  Colonel  Allen  inspired  his  Green  Mountain  Boys. 
He  said: 

Friends  and  fellow  soldiers,  you  have,  for  a  number  of 
years  past,  been  a  scourge  and  terror  to  arbitrary  power. 
Your  valor  has   been   famed   abroad,  and  acknowledged, 


The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         303 

as  appears  by  the  advice  and  orders  to  me  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  Connecticut  to  surprise  and  take  the  garrison 
now  before  us.  I  now  propose  to  advance  before  you,  and 
in  person  conduct  you  through  the  wicket  gate ;  for  we  must 
this  morning  either  quit  our  pretensions  to  valor,  or  possess 
ourselves  of  this  fortress  in  a  few  moments;  and,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  a  desperate  attempt,  which  none  but  the  bravest  of 
men  dare  undertake,  I  do  not  urge  it  on  any  one  contrary 
to  his  will.  You  that  will  undertake  voluntarily,  poise  your 
firelocks. * 

Colonel  Allen  and  Nathan  Beeman  lead  the  central  file 
of  the  troops  through  the  wicket  gate  to  the  Fortress.  The 
garrison  still  slept,  all  save  the  single  sentry,  and  Captain 
De  Laplace  was  soon  aroused  by  three  hearty  cheers  from 
the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  drawn  up  in  battle  order  within 
the  Fortress's  parade.  Captain  De  Laplace's  quarters  were 
soon  located,  and  in  rough  and  stentorian  voice  Colonel 
Allen  commanded  the  "old  rat"  to  get  out  of  bed  instantly 
and  surrender  the  Fort,  or  he  would  sacrifice  the  garrison. 
De  Laplace  appeared  at  his  barrack  door  with  his  trousers 
in  his  hands,  and  inquired  by  what  authority  the  surrender 
was  demanded.  Colonel  Allen  replied  rotundly :  "  In  the  name 
of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress ! "  That 
authoritative  demand,  with  Allen's  sword  raised  defiantly 
over  his  head,  proved  too  much  for  Captain  De  Laplace, 
and  he  surrendered  the  Fortress  without  the  firing  of  a  single 
gun.  Captain  Warner's  troops  arrived  soon  after  Colonel 
Allen  captured  the  first  British  flag  of  the  Revolution. 

It  is  better  for  Arnold's  ill-fame  to-day  that  he  be  for- 
gotten. One  of  his  champions,  known  as  "Veritas,"  was 
Capt.  Israel  Harris  of  Williamstown.  In  1832,  Harris 
applied  for  a  Revolutionary  pension.  He  often  related  to 
his  grandsons,  Prof.  James  Butler  of  the  University  of  Wis- 

1  Col.  Ethan  Allen,  Narrative  of  Captivity. 


304  The  Hoosac  Valley 

consin  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Harris  Butler  of  Schagh- 
ticoke,  that  he  was  the  third  man  in  single  file  to  enter  the 
gate  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  and  that  only  Arnold  and  Allen 
preceded  him.  "Veritas"1  reported  that  Colonel  Arnold 
rushed  five  yards  and  entered  the  Fortress  ahead  of  Colonel 
Allen. 

After  the  surrender  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  May  10,  1775, 
Allen  wrote  a  letter  to  the  "Committee  of  Correspondence 
for  the  City  and  County  of  Albany."  He  described  the 
manner  in  which  he  and  Colonel  Easton  surprised  the  Fort, 
and  added  that  Colonel  Arnold  was  present. 

Capt.  Edward  Mott,  chairman  of  the  Connecticut  Council, 
commissioned  Colonel  Allen  Commander  of  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga, May  10,  1775,  until  further  orders  from  the  "Con- 
tinental Congress."  Later  Colonel  Hinman  of  Connecticut 
took  command  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  and  the 
Allen  and  Easton  troops  were  dismissed,  although  Capt. 
Samuel  Wright's  Pownal  company,  according  to  Josiah 
Dunning's  application  for  a  pension  in  1827,  remained  in 
service  a  few  weeks  longer.  Dunning  was  present,  May 
nth,  when  Arnold  claimed  Allen's  right  to  command  the 
Fortress  by  virtue  of  his  Commission  from  the  Massachusetts 
Council.  "Allen  and  Arnold  had  drawn  their  swords,  and 
the  men  under  their  command  had  raised  and  cocked  their 
muskets  and  presented  their  bayonets,  when  a  private, 
named  Edward  Richards,  stepped  forward  with  great  firm- 
ness, commanded  both  officers  to  put  up  their  swords,  and 
ordered  the  soldiers  of  both  parties  to  arrest  the  two  leaders 
if  they  did  not  immediately  desist."2  They  retired  and 
agreed  upon  fighting  a  duel  later. 

'"Veritas,"  "Report  of  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  May  10,  1775,' 
Am.  Archives,  Series  4,  vol.  ii.,  p.  1086.  Cited  in  Perry's  Williamstown  and 
Williams  College,  pp.  32-33. 

3  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  60. 


fits   'A-^rrA  ffxt 


JUL 


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y<H 


Letter  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen,  addressed  to  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  for 
the  City  and  County  of  Albany,  dated  May  10,  1775,  after  his  capture  of  the  first 
English  Flag  during  the  Revolution,  and  the  Surrender  of  Fort  Ticonderoga. 


305 


306  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Crown  Point  was  captured  by  Seth  Warner's  and  Remem- 
ber Baker's  companies,  May  12th.  Owing  to  Arnold's 
superior  skill  in  navigation,  he  was  placed  in  command  of 
Crown  Point  and  the  Lake  Champlain  schooner;  and  Allen, 
in  command  of  Skene's  fleet  of  large  boats.  Arnold  captured 
a  British  vessel  in  the  harbor  of  St.  Johns,  Canada,  and  if 
his  party  had  been  a  trifle  larger,  he  might  have  become 
master  of  that  city.  Capt.  Samuel  Wright's  Pownal  com- 
pany accompanied  Arnold  to  St.  Johns  and  after  their 
return  to  Crown  Point,  Josiah  Dunning  was  engaged  on  Lake 
Champlain's  boats  until  discharged  in  September.  The 
Berkshire  and  Bennington  Boys  reorganized  later  under 
Colonels  Simonds,  Easton,  Allen,  and  Warner. 

Colonel  Allen's  Letter,  addressed  to  the  "Albany  Gentle- 
men," after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  was  utterly 
ignored.     In  it  he  said : 

As  your  county  is  nearer  than  any  other  part  of  the  Colo- 
nies, and  your  inhabitants  have  thoroughly  manifested  their 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  their  country,  I  expect  immediate  assis- 
tance from  you,  both  in  men  and  provision.  You  cannot 
exert  yourselves  too  much  in  so  glorious  a  cause.  .  .  .  Pray 
be  quick  to  our  relief,  and  send  five  hundred  men  imme- 
diately. 

Colonel  Hinman  from  Connecticut  soon  took  command 
of  the  Fort,  and  Colonel  Allen  and  Captain  Warner  attended 
the  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  when  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys  were  paid  for  their  services  at  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga. The  President  of  Congress,  however,  advised  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  York  to  organize  a  regiment  and 
choose  officers  and  men  from  Colonel  Allen's  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys. 

The  Provincial  Regiment  was  organized,  but  Seth  Warner 
was  chosen  colonel.   Allen  rose  above  this  military  slight  and 


The  Heroes  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         307 

assured  Gen.  Philip  Schuyler  that  he  desired  to  remain  in  the 
service.  General  Schuyler  was  ill  at  this  time  and  appointed 
General  Montgomery  and  Colonel  Hinman  to  command  Col. 
Seth  Warner's  regiment  at  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point.  Capt.  Remember  Baker's  scouting  party  from  Col- 
chester was  sent  in  August,  1775,  to  locate  General  Carle- 
ton's  encampment  near  St.  Johns.  Baker  left  his  boat  near 
the  Isle  aux  Noix,  four  miles  above  the  city,  and  a  party 
of  Indians  stole  it  the  next  morning  and  sent  a  ball  through 
Baker's  head.  Capt.  Remember  Baker  was  a  soldier  in  Colonel 
Wooster's  Connecticut  Regiment,  and  he  and  Israel  Putnam 
were  known  as  the  avengers  of  Lord  Howe's  death  in  1758. 
During  October,  1775,  a  soldier  of  Colonel  Warner's  Continen- 
tal Regiment  killed  the  Indian  who  shot  Baker.  He  recovered 
his  powder-horn  and  presented  it  to  Baker's  son,  who  in 
1795  joined  General  Wayne's  army  against  the  Indians  of 
the  Ohio  Valley.  The  historic  powder-horn  is  still  preserved 
among  the  Revolutionary  relics  in  Memorial  Hall  at  Old 
Deerfield,  Mass. 

After  Baker's  death,  Ethan  Allen  and  John  Brown  were 
sent  with  scouting  parties  to  determine  the  Canadians' 
attitude  toward  the  Americans'  cause.  This  proved  unfor- 
tunate for  Allen,  as  there  appears  to  have  existed  a  military 
jealousy  between  the  Berkshire  and  Bennington  Boys' 
militia  at  the  time.     The  closing  story  is  this : 

Colonel  Allen  met  Major  Brown  between  Longueuil  and 
La  Prairie,  and  they  agreed  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Mon- 
treal. Brown  and  his  two  hundred  men  were  to  cross  the 
St.  Lawrence  above  Montreal  on  the  night  of  September 
24th;  and  Allen  and  his  one  hundred  and  ten  men  were  to 
cross  the  river  below  the  city.  At  a  certain  signal  from 
Brown,  they  were  to  rush  against  the  city  from  opposite 
sides  and  seize  the  guards.  Allen  waited  for  Brown's  signal, 
but   either  through   cowardice  or   jealousy,   Brown  never 


308  The  Hoosac  Valley 

crossed  over  the  river.  The  position  and  numbers  of  Allen's 
party  were  reported  to  General  Carleton.  Allen,  deserted 
in  the  heat  of  battle  by  his  Canadians,  was,  therefore,  forced 
to  surrender,  September  25,  1775. 

In  Allen's  Narrative  of  Captivity  in  England's  jails,  written 
in  1778,  he  says  that  General  Prescott  ordered  thirteen 
of  the  Canadian  prisoners  captured  with  him  thrust  through 
the  breast  with  bayonets.  He  stepped  between  them  and 
the  executioner  and  told  General  Prescott  "to  thrust 
his  bayonet  into  his  breast,  for  he  was  the  sole  cause  of  the 
Canadians  taking  up  arms."  He  continues:  "The  guards  in 
the  meantime,  rolling  their  eyeballs  from  the  General  to  me, 
as  though  impatiently  waiting  his  dread  commands  to 
sheathe  their  bayonets  in  my  breast.  I  could,  however, 
plainly  discern  that  they  were  in  suspense  and  quandary 
about  the  matter.  This  gave  me  additional  hopes  of  suc- 
ceeding ;  for  my  design  was  not  to  die,  but  to  save  the  Cana- 
dians by  a  finesse." 

The  British  officers  held  a  bitter  hatred  for  Ethan  Allen 
and  his  Green  Mountain  captains.  Lieut.-Governor  Colden 
sent  a  doleful  account  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  to 
Lord  Dartmouth,  and  consoled  him  by  avowing  that:  "The 
loyal  loving  subjects  of  the  King  in  New  York  were  not  con- 
cerned in  the  Revolution.  The  only  people  of  the  Province, 
who  had  any  hand  in  the  expedition,  were  the  lawless  people 
whom  your  Lordship  has  heard  much  of,  under  the  name  of 
the  'Bennington  Mob.'" 

As  their  ring-leader  and  as  the  "avenger  of  the  oppressed," 
Allen,  loaded  with  irons,  was  sent  to  one  of  England's  gloomy 
prison  pens.  Gov.  Thomas  Chittenden  later  recorded  that : 
"  In  all  places  he  remained  Ethan  Allen  and  no  one  else." 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   COUNCILS   OF   SAFETY 

i 775-1 778 

Their  measures  are  executed  with  a  secrecy  and  dispatch  that  are  not  to  be 
equalled. — General  Burgoyne's  Letter  to  Lord  Germaine. 

Grand  Committee — Warner's  Walloomsac  Boys — Albany  Council  of  Safety — 
Knickerbacker's  Dutch  Hoosac  Boys — Simonds's  English  Hoosac  Boys — 
Military  Correspondence — Battle  of  White  Plains — Vermont's  Decla- 
ration of  Independence — The  Americans'  Evacuation  of  Ticonderoga — 
Battle  of  Hubbardton — Stark's  Bennington  Encampment — Berkshire 
and  Bennington  Volunteers — Baum's  British  Army — Burgoyne's  Orders 
to  Colonel  Baum. 

THE  united  Councils  of  Safety  of  the  Berkshire,  Benning- 
ton, Rensselaer,  and  Washington  militia,  aided  by  the 
New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island  Commit- 
tees of  War,  played  an  important  part  in  winning  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Revolution. 

The  first  fifteen  meetings  of  the  Grand  Committee  of  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  between  October  25,  1764  and  the  cap- 
ture of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  May  10,  1775,  were  not  recorded. 
Eight  of  their  Councils  of  Safety  during  the  succeeding 
seventeen  months,  however,  met  to  declare  Vermont's 
Independence,  frame  its  constitution,  and  organize  its  militia. 
Several  of  the  Councils  of  Safety  were  held  at  Stephen  Fay's 
Catamount  Tavern  at  Bennington  Centre.  On  the  mantel 
in  the  council  chamber  was  rudely  carved  "  Council  Room," 
above  which  appears  a  copy  of  the  historic  Vermont  Gazette, 
bearing  the  motto  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys : 

Pliant  as  reeds  where  streams  of  freedom  glide, 
Firm  as  the  hills  to  stem  oppression's  tide. 
309 


3io 


The  Hoosac  Valley- 


After  the  capture  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen  by  the  British  on 
September  25,  1775,  his  youngest  brother,  Ira  Allen,  aided 
by  Dr.  Jonas  Fay  and  Thomas  Chittenden,  assumed  com- 


The  Catamount  Tavern,  first  known  as  the  Green  Mountain  Inn  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys.  Built  by  Landlord  Stephen  Fay  in  1766  and  burned  in  1871. 
A  stuffed  catamount's  skin  became  the  Tavern  sign,  after  which  the  place  became 
known  as  the  Catamount  Tavern.  The  Councils  of  Safety  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys  were  held  at  the  Catamount  Tavern  during  the  Revolution  until  Ver- 
mont's admittance  to  the  Federal  Union  in  17QI. 

mand  of  military  affairs  on  the  Green  Mountain  frontier. 
Fay's  Records1  of  Vermont's   Councils  of  Safety  contains 

1  The  late  Henry  B.  Dawson,  of  Morrisania,  editor  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Magazine,  obtained  a  loan  of  Fay's  Records  about  i860  from  Mr.  E.  B.  Safford 
of  West  Rupert,  Vt.  He  returned  the  ledger  cover  minus  the  Records,  and 
sold  them  to  the  Library  of  Congress  in  1880.  Albert  S.  Batcheder  of  New 
Hampshire  unearthed  the  valuable  documents  recently,  and  the  late  Senator 
Redfield  Proctor  of  Vermont  photolithographed  Fay's  Records.  Copies  are 
now  on  file  in  all  the  County  Clerk  Offices  of  Vermont  and  in  many  public 
libraries.  Fay's  original  Records  are  now  restored  to  the  Secretary's  Office  at 
Montpelier,  Vt. 

George  Grenville  Benedict,  "Report  on  Recovery  of  Fay  Records," 
Proc.  Vt.  Hist.  Soc.t  pp.  49-55,  1903,  1904. 


The  Councils  of  Safety 


3ii 


forty  folio  pages,  relating  to  seventeen  meetings  between 
July  26,  1775  and  December  24,  1777. 


Council  Chamber  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  in  Catamount  Tavern. 

Around  the  historic  Fireplace  were  held  many  Councils  of 

Safety  before  the  Battle  of  Bennington. 

The  Albany  Committee  of  Safety,  after  the  capture  of 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  organized  the  14th  Regiment  of  New 
York  under  General  Ten  Broeck.  Johannes  Knickerbacker, 
2d,  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Eastern  Division  of  the 
regiment  in  Dutch  Hoosac.  His  officers  and  soldiers  resided 
in  Old  Schaghticoke  and  Cambridge  military  districts  and 


312 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


were  recorded  by  Matthew  Vischer,  Clerk  of  Albany  County. 
The  field-officers1  of  his  regiment's  eight  companies  were 
as  follows: 


Colonel 

Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d 

Lieut.-Col. 

Daniel  Bratt 

ist  Maj. 

Derrick  Van  Vechten 

2d  Maj. 

John  Van  Rensselaer 

Adjunct 

Charles  Toll 

Quartermaster 

Ignace  Kipp 

First  Company: 

Captain 

Hendrick  Vanderhoof 

ist  Lieut. 

Samuel  Ketchum 

2d  Lieut. 

Nathaniel  Ford 

Ensign 

Jacob  Hallenbeck 

Second  Company: 

Captain 

Walter  Groesbeck 

ist  Lieut. 

Wynant  Van  Denburgh 

2d  Lieut. 

Peter  Davenport 

Ensign 

Jacob  Yates 

Third  Company: 

Captain 

John  J.  Bleecker 

ist  Lieut. 

John  Snyder 

2d  Lieut. 

Matthew  D.  Garmo 

Ensign 

Stephen  Thome 

Fourth  Company: 

Captain 

Lewis  Van  Woerdt 

ist  Lieut. 

John  Schouten 

2d  Lieut. 

Joseph  Boyce 

Ensign 

John  Morrel 

1  Documentary  History,  New  York. 

The  Councils  of  Safety 


3i3 


Fifth  Company: 
Captain 
1  st  Lieut. 
2d  Lieut. 
Ensign 

Sixth  Company: 
Captain 
1st  Lieut. 
2d  Lieut. 
Ensign 

Seventh  Company: 

Captain 

1st  Lieut. 

2d  Lieut. 

Ensign 

Minute  Men  Company: 

Captain 

1st  Lieut. 

2d  Lieut. 

Ensign 


Fenner  Palmer 
John  Johnson 
James  Williamson 
Jonathan  Davis 

Daniel  B.  Bratt 
Michael  Champman 
Isaac  Lansing 
Francis  Hogel 

John  (?)  Van  Rensselaer 
Michael  Ryan 
Name  unknown 
Peter  Hartwell 


John  J.  Bleecker 
William  Thorne 
Thomas  Hicks 
Jonathan  Rowland 


Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker,  2d,  in  1776  sent  out  orders 
to  his  several  companies  to  remain  in  readiness  for  action. 
The  original  copy  of  the  order  to  Capt.  John  Snyder's 
Tomhannac  Company  of  Pittstown  is  found  in  the  upper 
front  hall  of  Knickerbacker  Mansion,  dated  as  follows : 

Com.  the  Publick  Service 
Captain.  John  Snyder  or  Next 
Commanding  Officer 
At  Tomhenich. 

Schactokook,  May  30th,  1776. 
Dear  Sir: 

By  order  of  general  Ten  Broock  it  is  now  become   my 
duty,   as  We  do  not  know   now  how   soon  the   Country 


314  The  Hoosac  Valley 

may  call  upon  us  for  our  Military  service,  To  earnestly 
recommend  it  unto  you  to  use  your  utmost  endeavour  with 
the  Company  under  Your  Command  as  well  as  officers  and 
privates  that  they  shall  Pay  due  obedience  &  strictly  observe 
the  Rules  and  orders  for  Regulating  the  militia  of  the  Colony 
of  New  York  Recommended  by  the  Provincial  Congress, 
the  22d  day  of  August  and  the  20th  day  of  December  last, 
and  inperte  reculcer  the  6h  and  7I1  Vols.  Sections  of  said 
rules  &  orders  the  5I1  section  of  the  Appendix  to  the  said 
Rules  and  Orders.  If  you  or  any  of  your  officers  have  not 
the  above  printed  rules  they  may  be  furnished  with  them 
by  Applying  unto  Matthew  Vischer  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the 
Committee  for  the  City  &  County  of  Albany.  And  also 
Deesire  that  you  furnish  me  With  a  List  of  the  Company 
under  your  command  by  the  5I1  day  of  June  next  and 
inform  me  in  What  manner  the  Men  are  equipped  as  to  arms 
ammunition  &  Accoutrements. 

I  am  Your  Most 

Hum.  Serv't 

John  Knickerbacker. 

The  New  York  Provincial  Congress  on  July  5,  1776,  direc- 
ted that  a  regiment  be  reorganized  and  officered  among  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys  who  had  distinguished  themselves 
in  Col.  Seth  Warner's  Continental  Regiment  in  Canada  dur- 
ing the  campaign  of  1775.  Among  the  officers  chosen  may 
be  named:  Col.  Seth  Warner,  Lieut. -Col.  Samuel  Safford, 
Lieut.  Joseph  Safford,  Adj.  Benjamin  Hopkins,  and  Ens. 
Jacob  Safford,  all  of  Bennington. 

At  that  time  Gen.  Benedict  Arnold  controlled  the  navy 
yard  of  the  Patriots  at  Skenesboro.  He  built  a  flotilla  of 
boats,  manned  with  fifty-five  guns  and  seventy  swivels, 
requiring  three  hundred  and  ninety-five  men.  General 
Carleton  controlled  the  English  navy  yard  at  St.  Johns  and 
built  a  fleet  of  boats.     In  order  to  expedite  work  at  the 


The  Councils  of  Safety  315 

Patriots*  navy  yard,  General  Gates  ordered  Captain  Eddy's 
Rhode  Island  Company  of  thirty-nine  ship-carpenters  to 
advance  from  Providence  to  Skenesboro.  On  their  march, 
they  were  exposed  to  smallpox,  and  the  Council  of  Safety 
of  Williamstown  quarantined  the  men  in  the  John  Smedley 
mill-house  until  Dr.  William  Page  vaccinated  them.  At  that 
time  inoculation  for  smallpox  was  considered  a  ' '  diabolical 
practice  of  quacks."  Dr.  Page  on  August  17, 1776,  addressed 
a  letter1  to  General  Gates,  stating  that  Eddy's  company 
might  safely  march  for  Skenesboro  in  eight  days.  Brig.-Gen. 
David  Waterbury,  Jr.,  however,  had  already  formally  dis- 
charged them  on  August  12th,  and  they  were  not  allowed  to 
march  on  to  Skenesboro.  Most  of  the  men  settled  in  Hoosac 
Valley  later. 

The  military  correspondence  of  Maj.-Gen.  Philip  Schuyler 
and  Gen.  Horatio  Gates,  between  Col.  Benjamin  Simonds 
and  the  Berkshire  Committee  of  Safety  during  1775,  is  of 
interest  to  Hoosactonians.  These  letters  reveal  the  prompt 
response  of  the  Berkshire  and  Bennington  militia  to  both 
Schuyler's  and  Gates's  orders: 

Williamstown,  September,  12,  1776. 
Sir: 

Agreeable  to  an  express  from  his  Honour,  Major- 
General  Schuyler,  I  have  caused  the  Militia  under  my  com- 
mand to  be  on  their  march  to  Tyonderoga.  I  thought 
proper  to  send  this  by  express,  so  that  in  case  the  men 
should  not  be  wanted,  they  may  have  early  orders  for  their 
return,  that  so  expenses  of  their  march  further  than  neces- 
sary may  be  prevented. 

I  am  your  Honour's  Most  obedient  servant, 

Ben'j  Simonds 

Colonel. 
To  General  Gates. 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  101. 


316  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Tyonderoga,  September  15,  1776. 
Sir: 

I  this  moment  received  your  letter,  dated  Williams- 
town,  12th  instant.  As  I  did  not  send  the  orders  for  your 
march  to  camp,  I  could  not  take  measures  more  early  to  stop 
your  proceeding.  The  last  account  from  General  Arnold 
convinces  me  that  there  is  no  immediate  necessity  for  the 
Militia  coming  forward  at  this  time.  A  copy  of  his  last 
letter  to  me  I  send  you  enclosed.  The  alarm  was  occasioned 
by  some  firing  from  our  enemy  on  the  shores  opposite  Isle 
Aux  Tetes:  and  I  believe  a  great  number  of  small  arms  and 
cannon  fired  that  and  the  succeeding  days  by  brigades  of 
the  enemy  at  exercise  at  their  post  below,  all  which  deceived 
the  Commanding  Officer  at  Crown  Point. 

A  good  road  will  be  finished  by  this  day  sennight,  from 
Rutland  through  Castleton  to  the  east  fort  of  Mount  Inde- 
pendence, and  an  excellent  bridge  over  Otter  Creek  at  Rut- 
land will  be  finished  in  three  days.  For  the  future,  any 
body  of  men  intended  for  our  succor,  should  march  that  way. 

The  United  States  are,  in  general,  obliged  to  you  for  your 
alertness  to  succor  their  army,  and  particular,  Sir, 

Yours  &C.  &C. 
Ho.  Gates. 

To  Colonel  Benjamin  Simonds. 

A  month  later  Maj. -General  Schuyler  sent  a  rallying  mes- 
sage from  his  Schuylerville  Mansion  addressed  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety,  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  dated: 

Saratoga,  October,  16,  1776. 

Gentlemen  : 

Our  fleet,  which  suffered  severely  in  an  engagement 
on  the  1 2th  instant  with  the  enemy,  has  been  still  more 
severely  handled  in  a  subsequent  one,  insomuch  that  the 
enemy  are  left  masters  of  the  lake,  and  are  now  coming 
on  to  attack  our  army  at  Ticonderoga.     In  this  situation 


The  Councils  of  Safety  3J7 

of  affairs  it  is  of  utmost  importance  that  the  militia  of  your 
State  should  immediately  march  to  sustain  the  army ;  and 
such  as  can  march  expeditiously,  come  by  way  of  Albany, 
should  do  so,  and  the  others  take  the  route  to  Skenesborough. 
Each  man  should  come  provided  with  as  much  provision 
and  ammunition  as  possible.  The  commanding  officer 
should  send  me  information  of  his  march  from  time  to  time. 
I  shall  be  either  at  Fort  George  or  Skenesborough,  but  as 
I  cannot  determine  which,  it  will  be  proper  to  send  expresses 
to  both  places,  and  to  forward  copies  of  this  to  Governor 
Trumbull,  and  to  every  Committee  in  your  State  in  a  situ- 
ation of  affording  assistance,  and  also  to  the  neighbouring 
counties  in  the  State  of  Connecticut.  I  must  repeat,  gentle- 
men, that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  I  should  be 
duly  furnished  with  an  account  of  the  movements  and  num- 
bers of  the  Militia. 
From,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

Ph.  Schuyler. 
To  the  Committee  of  the  County  of  Berkshire. 

A  copy  of  General  Schuyler's  order  was  also  sent  with  the 
following  message  to  Hampshire,  formerly  a  part  of  Berkshire 
County,  by  the  Berkshire  Committee : 

Stockbridge,  October  19,  1776. 
Gentlemen  : 

The  Militia  of  this  County  are  rallied  and  on  their 
march,  and  we  think  it  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
you  comply  with  the  General's  request  immediately. 

Erastus   Sergeant, 
Samuel   Brown,  Jun., 
Asa  Bennett. 

Committee  of  Stockbridge. 
To  the  Committee  of  Hampshire  County. 

General  Schuyler  sent  a  rallying  message  to  Col.  Moses 
Robinson,  son  of  the  late  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.,  then 


318  The  Hoosac  Valley 

in  command  of  the  Bennington  Boys*  militia.  Nearly  every 
man  able  to  bear  arms  in  the  Walloomsac  Valley  volunteered, 
so  that  there  were  not  enough  left  to  operate  the  grist-mills 
or  ship  provincial  stores  to  supply  the  army.  The  Ameri- 
cans, however,  were  victorious  at  that  time,  and  the  Benning- 
ton and  Berkshire  companies  were  soon  discharged  and 
received  the  official  thanks  of  General  Gates. 

During  the  campaign  of  1775,  Capt.  Isaac  Wyman,  last 
commander  of  Fort  Massachusetts,  who  located  at  Keene, 
N.  H.,  in  1 761,  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  Col. 
John  Stark's  New  Hampshire  militia;  and  during  the  cam- 
paign of  1776  he  was  commissioned  colonel  of  a  New  Hamp- 
shire regiment  by  the  Committee  of  Safety  and  ordered  to 
march  to  Fort  Ticonderoga  on  July  11,  1776.  His  commis- 
sion is  of  local  interest  to  Hoosactonians  to-day,  since  several 
of  his  captains  named  were  original  settlers  of  English 
Hoosac  towns: 

July  11,  1776. 
Sir: 

I  send  you  by  bearer,  your  commission  as  Colonel 
of  a  Regiment  of  our  Militia  in  the  Service;  also,  thirty 
pounds,  as  two  months'  advance  wages.  As  the  troops  will 
be  along  in  a  few  days,  it  is  expected  that  you  will  go  along 
with  them  to  Crown  Point  and  join  the  army  there.  The 
Captains:  Drew,  Chandler,  Shephard,  Dearborn,  Blanchard, 
Harper,  Parker,  and  Weatherbee,  with  their  companies, 
are  to  make  your  regiment.  As  it  is  of  great  consequence 
that  the  men  are  forwarded  with  speed,  therefore  expect 
you  will  do  what  is  in  your  power  that  they  make  no  delay 
at  No.  4.  You  will  also  receive  thirty-two  pounds,  advance 
wages  for  your  Surgeon,  Adjutant,  and  Quartermaster,  with 
this  and  blank  commissions  for  those  officers  to  be  appointed 
by  you.  Imploring  the  Divine  assistance  of  your  endeavors 
to  serve  your  Country,  and  that  you  may  return  in  safety, 
with  laurels  of  victory,  is  the  sincere  desire  of  him  who,  in 


The  Councils  of  Safety  319 

behalf   of   the   Committee,   subscribes   himself   your  very 

humble  servant. 

Name  unknown. 

To  Colonel  Wyman. 

On  September  1,  1776,  it  is  recorded  that  a  "General 
Court  Martial"  was  announced  to  sit  at  ten  o'clock  the 
following  morning  at  "the  President's  tent,  upon  Mount 
Independence,  for  the  trial  of  Colonel  Wyman  and  such  pris- 
oners as  shall  be  brought  before  the  Court."  Nothing  more 
is  heard  of  Colonel  Wyman's  military  career  during  the 
Revolution  after  that  date.  Whether  the  rallying  call  for 
volunteers  was  sent  to  Berkshire,  Bennington,  Connecticut, 
or  New  Hampshire  Committees,  general  obedience  and 
speed  were  observed.  On  June  24,  1776,  the  Williamstown 
Boys  voted  that  they  would  "solemnly  engage  their  lives 
and  fortunes"  to  support  the  Provincial  Congress  in  its 
adopted  measures  for  the  formal  subsequent  Declaration  of 
Independence,  to  be  executed  July  4,  1 776.  The  Bennington 
Boys,  also,  held  their  first  and  second  General  Councils  of 
Safety  at  Dorset  on  July  24th  and  September  25,  1776,  at 
which  Dr.  Jonas  Fay  declared  that  New  Hampshire  Grants, 
comprising  the  Green  Mountain  territory,  "ought  to  be  and 
is  forever  hereafter  to  be  considered  a  free  and  independent 
jurisdiction  and  State." 

Col.  Benjamin  Simonds's  regiment  of  Berkshire  Boys, 
organized  in  1775,  was  called  out  to  meet  the  British  in  the 
fatal  Battle  of  White  Plains,  on  October  28,  1776.  Col.  Mark 
Hopkins,  a  member  of  the  Stockbridge  Council  of  Safety, 
and  grandfather  of  the  late  President  Mark  Hopkins  of 
Williams  College,  died  the  day  before  the  battle,  in  which  he 
had  planned  to  participate.  Between  December  16,  1776, 
and  March  29,  1777,  Colonel  Simonds  and  three  hundred 
and  eight  of  his  Berkshire  Boys  took  command  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga.     The  names  of  his  field-officers,  many  of  whom 


320 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


were  proprietors  of  the  English  Hoosac  towns,  are  of  interest 
to  Hoosactonians.     They  are: 


Colonel 
Major 
Adjutant 
Surgeon 
Assist.  Surgeon 
Surgeon's  Mate 
Aide  to  Colonel 

First  Company: 
Captain 

Second  Company: 
Captain 

Third  Company: 
Captain 


Fourth  Company: 
Captain 


Fifth  Company: 
Captain 


Benjamin  Simonds 
Caleb  Hyde 
Daniel  Horsford 
Erastus  Sergeant 
William  Towner 
Eldad  Lewis 
Joseph  Simonds 


Erastus  Sergeant 
Forty-three  men 


Amos  Rathburn 
Fifty-eight  men 


William  Douglass 
Seventy-seven  men 
from  Hancock,  Lanes- 
boro,  and  Williamstown 


Ephraim  Fitch 
Fifty-seven  men 
from  Williamstown 
and  adjoining  towns. 


George  King 
Fifty-seven  men 
from  Cheshire, 
Williamstown,  and 
other  towns. 


Williamstown 

Lenox 

Williamstown 

Stockbridge 

Williamstown 

Lenox 

Williamstown 


Stockbridge 


Unknown 


Hancock 


Unknown 


Unknown 


The  Councils  of  Safety  321 

Sixth  Company: 

Captain  William  Watkins  Unknown 

Forty-four  men 
from  English  Hoosac 
towns. 

Seventh  Company: 

Captain  David  Wheeler  Unknown 

Forty-five  men 
from  Williamstown 
and  adjoining  towns. 

During  the  third  and  fourth  meetings  of  the  General 
Council  of  Safety  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  held  at 
Westminster,  October,  30,  1776  and  January  15,  1777,  Ira 
Allen  presented  Dr.  Jonas  Fay's  Declaration  of  Vermont's 
Independence.  The  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia, 
however,  later  refused  to  accept  the  Green  Mountain  settlers' 
Declaration  of  Rights,  although  Ira  Allen  and  Dr.  Thomas 
Young  published  papers  supporting  their  contentions. 
After  the  thirteen  United  Colonies  declared  their  Indepen- 
dence of  the  British  Crown,  all  arbitrary  acts  of  the 
New  York  Royal  Colony  also  became  null  in  the  Green 
Mountain  Republic.  The  settlers,  therefore,  considered 
themselves  "  without  law  or  government,  truly  in  a  state 
of  nature."  They  described  and  bounded  the  territory  and 
published  their  State's  Declaration  of  Independence1  as 
the  fourteenth  in  the  Federal  Union,  under  the  name  of 
"New  Connecticut,"  in  the  Connecticut  Courant,  March  17, 
1777. 

The  meeting  of  the  General  Council  of  Safety,  held  at 
Windsor,  July  2,  1777,  met  to  frame  their  State  Constitution. 
Dr.  Thomas  Young  of  Philadelphia,  in  a  letter  dated  in  April, 
1777,  nad  advised  "the  people  of  Vermont  to  form  forthwith 

1  Dr.  Jonas  Fay,  Records  of  Vermont  Councils  of  Safety. 


322  The  Hoosac  Valley 

a  State  Government,"  modelled  after  Pennsylvania's  Con- 
stitution. This  appears  to  have  been  the  first  time  the 
name  Vermont  was  applied  to  the  territory.  In  October 
1763,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Peters1  had,  however,  christened  the 
Green  Mountain  region  Verd-mont,  from  the  French  Verd 
(green)  and  mont  (mount).  The  "d"  was  dropped  later 
and  the  present  spelling,  Vermont,  adopted.  Dr.  Thomas 
Young  died  before  the  completion  of  Vermont's  Declaration 
of  Rights,  although  they  were  finished  by  Ira  Allen,  who 
collected  fees  for  copying  the  model  State  Papers. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Windsor  Constitutional  Council 
of  Safety,  July  2,  1777,  Ira  Allen  was  appointed  commander 
of  frontier  defences.  Three  days  later  news  of  the  Evacua- 
tion of  Fort  Ticonderoga  by  the  Patriots  on  July  5th,  and 
the  Battle  of  Hubbard  ton  on  the  6th,  reached  the  Windsor 
Council.  The  Vermont  Legislature  had  not  yet  elected  its 
officers  and  the  State  was  thus  without  a  dollar  in  its 
treasury.  Ira  Allen  and  Thomas  Chittenden,  however,  sent 
express  messengers  to  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts, 
and  Connecticut  Committees  of  Safety,  urging  militia  for  the 
defence  of  the  Hoosac-Walloomsac  frontier.  John  Langdon, 
of  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature,  personally  donated 
$3000  in  money  and  pledged  $3000  more  in  silver  plate  and 
seventy  hogsheads  of  tobago  rum,  to  be  sold  at  auction  to 
swell  the  military  fund.  Brig.-Gen.  John  Stark  of  London- 
derry, N.  H.,  signed  an  agreement  with  the  Legislature,  and 
the  veterans  who  fought  with  him  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  rallied  at  Fort  No.  4,  now  the  site  of  Charleston  on  the 
Connecticut. 

Later  the  Bennington  Council  of  Safety  adjourned  in  de- 
spair over  the  problem  of  raising  funds  to  equip  a  regiment. 
The  youthful  secretary,  Ira  Allen,  was  appointed  "to  dis- 

»Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  Life  of  Rev.  Hugh  Peters,  1807;  Thompson's  Vermont 
Hist.,  Pt.  I.,  p.  4;  Pt.  II.,  p.  108,  1842. 


The  Councils  of  Safety  323 

cover  ways  and  means* -  and  to  report  at  sunrise.  After  a 
sleepless  night  he  reported  that  "the  property  of  all  persons 
(Tories)  who  had  or  should  join  the  common  enemy  (British) 
should  be  sequestered  and  sold  at  public  auction  to  furnish 
the  means  of  defence."  On  July  28th  following,  commis- 
sioners were  appointed,  who  sold  all  Tory  property  and  arms 
at  auction.  Fifteen  days  later  Col.  Samuel  Herrick's  Regi- 
ment of  Vermont  Rangers  was  organized,  including  Capt. 
Samuel  Robinson's1  East  Bennington  Company,  Capt. 
Elijah  Dewey's2  West  Bennington  Company,  and  a  portion 
of  Col.  Nathaniel  Brush's  Regiment  of  Vermont  Volunteers, 
many  of  whom  resided  in  Pownal  and  Stamford. 

General  Stark's  letter,  dated  at  Fort  No.  4  on  the  Con- 
necticut, July  29,  1777,  informed  the  Bennington  Council 
of  Safety  that  the  British  had  left  Castleton  with  intention  to 
march  to  the  upper  Walloomsac  and  seize  Fort  Bennington's 
Provincial  storehouse.  He  was  delayed  at  Fort  No.  4, 
owing  to  scarcity  of  bullets.  Only  one  pair  of  bullet-moulds 
were  at  hand  to  turn  out  balls,  and  nine  of  the  eleven  barrels 
of  powder  were  condemned.  Ira  Allen  and  Thomas  Chit- 
tenden, however,  urged  Stark's  men  forward  by  sending  food 
and  rum  to  aid  them  on  their  march  over  the  mountains 
to  Manchester,  where  they  arrived  on  August  8th.  General 
Lincoln  met  General  Stark  with  a  message  from  Major- 
General  Schuyler  to  march  down  to  the  east  bank  of  the 
Hudson.  Stark  refused  and  showed  his  agreement  made 
with  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature  to  hang  on  the  New 
England  border  and  strike  as  opportunity  offered.  General 
Schuyler  wholly  forgot  to  give  orders  to  defend  the  Hoosac- 
Walloomsac  frontier. 

General  Stark  and  his  army,  accompanied  by  Col.  Seth 
Warner,  on  August  9th  left  Manchester  and  encamped  late 
that  evening  on  the  meadow  surrounding  Colonel  Herrick's 

1  See  Note  20,  at  end  of  volume.  2  See  Note  21,  at  end  of  volume. 


324  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Tavern,  two  miles  west  of  the  Old  First  Church  of  Bennington 
Centre,  now  the  site  of  the  Otis  Warren  residence. 

Burgoyne's  army  of  7000  troops  consisted  of  over  4000 
German  hirelings,  including  Brunswickers,  Dragoons,  Hes- 
sians, and  Chasseurs,  and  3000  Britishers.  Only  2800 
of  the  German  troops  survived.  For  the  death  or  non- return 
of  each  of  the  German  soldiers  England  was  forced  to  pay  the 
petty  sovereign  £14 — twice  as  much  as  she  paid  for  those 
returned.  Burgoyne's  campaign  of  1777  was  mapped  out 
for  him  by  King  George  II.  and  his  ministers.  He  left 
Quebec  in  May  and  was  ordered  to  make  a  juncture  with 
General  Howe  at  Albany. 

On  the  march  south  from  Canada  the  British  army  swelled 
to  nearly  10,000  men,  including  Canadians,  Indians,  and 
Tories.  On  June  1st,  Burgoyne  broke  up  his  River  Boquet 
Camp  and  marched  for  Fort  Ticonderoga.  The  settlers 
fled  in  terror  ahead  of  his  Indian  scouts.  They  left  their 
tables  as  they  rose  from  breakfast  and  set  a  torch  to  their 
dwellings.  The  British  gained  the  Old  Military  Road  and 
soon  arrived  at  Fort  Ticonderoga.  The  battery  of  the 
Patriots  on  Mount  Independence  in  Orwell  was  connected 
with  the  main  fortress  on  the  west  shore  by  a  floating  bridge. 
Both  forts  were  within  cannon  shot  of  Sugar  Loaf  Mountain, 
known  as  Mount  Defiance,  where  the  British  hauled  for- 
midable batteries  during  the  night  of  July  5th.  Before 
sunrise  the  Patriots  evacuated  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  crossed 
on  the  bridge  to  Mount  Independence.  They  were  ad- 
vancing toward  Hubbardton,  Vt.,  when  the  British  overtook 
General  St.  Clare's  rear-guard,  composed  of  Warner's, 
Francis's,  and  Hale's  nine  hundred  Continentals.  The 
Battle  of  Hubbardton  lasted  three  hours,  until  the  British 
were  reinforced  by  the  Hessians,  who  marched  forward 
singing  their  Battle  Hymn  of  Winfield's  Fight,  louder  than 
the  sound  of  musketry.     Colonel  Francis  was  slain  and  Col- 


The  Councils  of  Safety  325 

onel  Warner  ordered  his  men  to  look  out  for  themselves  and 
meet  him  at  Manchester.  The  loss  of  both  the  Americans 
and  the  Britishers  was  heavy ;  only  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  Warner's  Continentals  reached  Manchester  safely. 

General  Burgoyne  made  his  headquarters  at  Maj.  Philip 
Skene's  Whitehall  Manor,  where  he  remained  until  July  15th, 
when  his  army  began  to  march  down  the  Hudson  to  meet 
General  Howe  at  Albany.  Howe  later  took  possession  of 
New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Long  Island  forts,  which  led 
Gen.  George  Washington,  stationed  on  lower  Hudson,  to 
exclaim  that  "as  matters  were  going,  Burgoyne  would  have 
little  difficulty  in  reaching  Albany."  After  the  Evacuation 
of  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  the  Battle  of  Hubbardton,  however, 
General  Schuyler  rallied  his  scattered  troops  at  Fort  George. 
He  removed  all  the  cannon  and  stores,  tore  up  the  corduroy 
roads,  and  blocked  the  enemies'  march  between  Skene's 
Whitehall  Manor  and  Fort  Edward,  by  felling  trees  across 
the  muddy  pass.  The  British  and  Germans  were  thus 
unable  to  march  more  than  a  mile  a  day  for  the  following 
twenty-two  days  and  arrived  at  Fort  Edward  on  the  upper 
Hudson,  July  28th. 

Those  three  weeks  gave  the  Continental  Councils  of 
Safety  time  to  rally  large  regiments  and  station  them 
between  Bemis  Heights  at  Stillwater  and  Half-Moon  at 
Waterford  on  the  Hudson.  Both  the  Hoosac  and  Walloom- 
sac  passes  were  guarded  by  the  redoubtable  Stark,  who  was 
" Stark  sure"  of  Burgoyne's  intention  to  seize  the  Provin- 
cial stores  at  Bennington  and  Williamstown.  After  arriving 
at  Fort  Edward  on  July  28th,  General  Burgoyne  held  a 
council  of  war  with  his  officers,  and  the  Tory  Major,  Philip 
Skene,  advised  him  of  the  Americans'  stores  of  corn,  wheat, 
horses,  cattle,  and  wheel  carriages  at  Fort  Bennington.  He 
needed  horses  and  wagons  to  move  provisions  and  artillery 
from  Lake  George  to  Albany,  and  1300  horses  to  mount 


326  The  Hoosac  Valley 

General  Riedesers  Dragoons.  Burgoyne,  therefore,  ordered 
Col.  Frederick  Baum  to  head  an  expedition  to  seize  Benning- 
ton's storehouse.  He  broke  up  his  Fort  Edward  Camp  and 
gave  out  that  he  was  to  march  to  Boston,  although  his  secret 
plan  was  to  make  a  juncture  with  General  Howe,  Colonel 
St.  Leger,  and  Colonel  Baum  at  Albany,  and  to  eat  his 
Christmas  plum-pudding  either  there  or  in  New  York  City. 
However,  the  massacre  of  Jane  McCrea  by  the  Huron 
Chief,  Wyandotte  Panther,  took  place  on  July  27th,  the 
day  before  Burgoyne  broke  up  his  Fort  Edward  Camp. 
Owing  to  her  youth  and  the  romance  of  her  approaching 
marriage  to  David  Jones,  an  officer  in  Peters's  regiment  of 
Loyalists,  the  massacre  made  a  particularly  deep  impression. 
The  news  spread  like  magic  and  roused  every  American  in 
the  Colonies.  A  mighty  hatred  burned  in  the  breasts  of 
Whig  and  Tory  alike.  The  wavering  Loyalists  now  seized 
their  muskets  and  volunteered  for  the  Patriot  Cause  against 
the  British  Crown  that  stooped  to  enlist  savages  in  their 
cause.  Jane  McCrea  was  conducted  by  two  Indians  to  meet 
her  lover  at  his  brother's  home  near  General  Fraser's  Camp, 
north  of  the  site  of  Sandy  Hill.  A  keg  of  rum  was  promised 
to  her  escorts  for  her  safe  arrival.  The  Indians  quarrelled 
over  the  division  of  the  rum,  a  mile  south  of  her  destination, 
and  the  Huron  chieftain,  in  order  to  prevent  his  companion 
from  receiving  the  rum,  seized  Jane  McCrea's  golden  hair 
and  scalped  her  beneath  a  pine  tree  still  standing  at  Sandy 
Hill.  General  Burgoyne,  however,  pardoned  Wyandotte 
Panther,  and  on  August  5th,  nine  days  after  Jane  McCrea's 
massacre,  he  obtained  a  pledge  from  seventeen  tribes  of  the 
Abenakis  and  Iroquois  nations  to  remain  loyal  to  the  British 
Cause.  Burgoyne  then  sent  forth  a  proclamation  to  the 
colonists  in  which  he  said:  "I  have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the 
Indian  forces  under  my  direction,  and  they  amount  to  thou- 
sands, to  overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Britain. 


The  Councils  of  Safety  327 

...  I  trust  I  shall  stand  acquitted  in  the  eyes  of  God  and 
man,  in  executing  the  vengeance  of  the  Crown  against  the 
wilful  outcasts." 

Burgoyne's  British  army  of  disciplined  men  was  excep- 
tionally well  supplied  with  officers  and  artillery.  His 
generals — Philip,  Fraser,  Riedesel,  Nesbit,  Gordon,  and 
Thatcher — were  all  men  of  skill  and  judgment. 

Stark's  American  army  included  eighteen  hundred 
undisciplined  men,  including  over  five  hundred  Berkshire 
volunteers,  fresh  from  their  harvest  fields,  armed  with 
scythes,  axes,  hay-forks,  and  old  flint-locks.  They  arrived 
at  the  North  Farm  Camp  in  Bennington  on  the  rainy  day  of 
August  15th.  Several  of  the  Bennington  County  boys  were 
bare-footed.  On  August  16th,  during  the  raging  battle, 
Captain  Comstock  led  his  Sunderland  company  to  the 
battle-field  without  shoes.  While  in  the  act  of  trying  on  a 
dead  Hessian's  shoes,  he  was  mortally  wounded,  after  which 
the  command  of  his  company  fell  to  Lieut.  Eli  Brownson, 
a  brother-in-law  of  Col.  Ethan  Allen. 

There  was  not  a  man  left  at  Williamstown  in  Berkshire 
County  except  a  cripple  unable  to  bear  arms.  Capt.  Samuel 
Clark's  South  Williamstown  company  contained  sixty-five 
men;  and  Capt  Nehemiah  Smedley's  North  Williamstown 
company  contained  ninety  men.  The  military  line  separat- 
ing the  two  districts  ran  east  and  west  over  the  summit  of 
Stone  Hill.  Capt.  William  Douglass's  Hancock  company  con- 
tained forty-six  men,  and  Captain  Smith's  company  from  the 
same  neighborhood  numbered  thirty-one  men,  who  belonged 
to  Colonel  Simonds's  Berkshire  Boys  Regiment.  Capt. 
Amariah  Babbitt's  New  Ashford  company  included  a  large 
number  of  patriotic  men,  although  the  hilly  town,  famous 
for  blackberry-briars,  is  nearly  depopulated  to-day.  Capt. 
Daniel  Brown's  Lanesboro  company  contained  forty-six  men, 
and  they  carried  to  the  field  sixty  pounds  of  powder,  five 


328 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  lead,  and  two  hundred  and 
forty  flints. 

Lieut.  William  Ford  of  Brown's  Pittsfield  regiment  headed 


Catamount  Monument,  marking  site  of  the  Catamount  Tavern  on  the  Parade  at 

Bennington  Centre,  Vermont.     The  Bronze  Catamount  of  the  Benningtonians 

still  grins  his  teeth  westward  toward  the  Yorkers  as  in  1766  and  177 1. 


twenty-two  men,  including  the  famous  "Fighting  Parson," 
Thomas  Allen,  a  cousin  of  Ethan  Allen  and  first  minister  of 
Pittsfield,  and  several  of  his  parishioners.  Capt.  Aaron 
Rowley  led  the  Richmond  company,  containing  twenty-six 
men,  including  David  Rossiter  of  Brown's  regiment.     Capt. 


The  Councils  of  Safety  329 

Enoch  Noble  and  Lieutenant  Warner  of  Ashley's  regiment 
also  led  two  companies  from  Stockbridge,  and  Captain  Solo- 
mon headed  a  company  of  Stockbridge  Indians.  A  Lenox 
company  included  the  sharpshooters  Linus  Parker,  Sepp  Ives, 
Isaac  Cummings,  and  others.  Captain  Low's  Cheshire  com- 
pany contained  forty-four  men,  and  Capt.  Joab  Stafford's 
company  of  Independents  from  Stafford  Hill,  a  part  of  the 
town  of  Cheshire,  contained  forty-one  men,  including  several 
Quakers  from  Windsor,  Lanesboro,  Adams,  and  North 
Adams.  They  took  forty  pounds  of  powder,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds  of  lead,  and  seventy-two  flints.  Capt. 
Enos  Parker  led  the  Adams  company,  containing  forty-one 
men. 

Lead  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  most  needed  articles  among 
the  New  England  troopers.  On  August  15th,  mounted 
messengers  were  sent  through  Berkshire  and  Bennington 
counties  collecting  lead.  Dr.  Fay's  Records  of  the  Council 
of  Safety  contains  the  following  message : 

State  of  Vermont, 
Bennington  in  Council  of  Safety, 
August  15,  1777. 
Sir: 

You  are  hereby  desired  to  forward  to  this  place,  by 
express,  all  the  lead  you  can  possibly  collect  in  your  vicinity; 
as  it  is  expected,  every  minute,  an  action  will  commence 
between  our  troops  and  the  enemies,  within  four  or  five 
miles  of  this  place,  and  the  lead  will  be  positively  wanted. 

By  Order  of  the  Council, 
Paul  Spooner, 

D.  Sec'y. 
The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  Williamstown. 

Col.  Benjamin  Simonds  sent  another  special  order  for  lead 
to  his  wife  at  River  Bend  Tavern  in  Williamstown,  as  follows: 


33°  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Madam:     Please  to  send  by  bearer,  Jedidiah  Reed,  6  or 
7  pounds  of  lead,  by  CoL  Simonds's  order. 

By  Order  of  Council, 

Paul  Spooner, 

D.  Sec'y. 
Mrs.  Simonds. 

Lieut.-Col.  Frederick  Baum's  expedition  was  equipped 
with  Burgoyne's  finest  men,  including  General  Riedesel's 
Dragoons,  General  Fraser's  brigade  of  marksmen,  and  Peters's 
regiment  of  Loyalists,  led  under  the  Tory,  Col.  Francis  J.  Van 
Pfister  of  White  House  Manor  of  Dutch  Hoosac.  With 
these  were  also  allied  a  regiment  of  Canadian  Rangers, 
headed  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians  and  two  cannon 
and  artillerists.  Lieut. -Colonel  Breyman  and  a  strong  body 
of  German  regulars,  together  with  two  large  calibre  cannon, 
were  posted  at  the  junction  of  the  Batten  Kill  in  Old  Sara- 
toga, twenty-two  miles  northwest  of  St.  Croix  Mills,  as 
Baum's  reinforcements. 

Fifty  Chasseurs  joined  Baum's  army  at  eleven  o'clock 
on  the  evening  of  the  nth  of  August,  and  at  five  o'clock  the 
following  morning  Baum  began  his  march  to  Fort  Benning- 
ton up  the  Old  Cambridge  Road.  He  had  not  advanced 
a  mile,  however,  when  a  message  from  Burgoyne  ordered 
him  to  post  his  troops  and  await  further  orders.  Burgoyne 
called  a  council  of  war  and  early  on  the  morning  of  August 
1 2th,  gave  Colonel  Baum  the  following  verbal  orders: 

"Mount  your  Dragoons,  send  me  thirteen  hundred  horses; 
seize  Bennington,  cross  the  mountains  to  Rockingham  and 
Brattleboro;  try  the  affections  of  the  country;  meet  me,  a 
fortnight  hence,  in  Albany." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

the  victory  of  bennington 
August  16,  1777 

Had  each  man  been  an  Alexander  or  Charles  of  Sweden,  he  could  not  have 
behaved  more  gallantly.  .  .  .  The  storming  of  the  redoubts  was  the  hottest  I  ever 
saw  in  my  life:  It  represented  one  continued  clap  of  thunder. — General  Stark's 
Despatch  to  General  Gates. 

Stark's  Council  of  War — Colonel  Greggs's  Opening  Skirmish — American  and 
British  Encampments — Baums's  and  Van  Pfister's  Redoubts — Eve  before 
the  Battle  of  Bennington — Patriots'  Plan  of  Attack — Stark's  Address 
to  his  Army — Storming  of  the  British  Redoubts — Surrender  of  Baum 
and  Van  Pfister— Colonel  Breyman's  Reinforcements — Colonel  Warner's 
Continental  Reinforcements — Hessian  and  Tory  Prisoners — Patriots' 
Trophies  of  War— Centennial  of  the  Victory  of  Bennington  and  Battle 
Monument,  1877. 

THE  early  dawn  of  Wednesday,  August  13,  1777,  revealed 
a  threatening  storm  cloud  lowering  over  the  brow  of 
Mount  St.  Anthony,  south  of  General  Stark's  Bennington 
Centre  encampment.  The  scouts,  Isaac  Clark  and  Eleazar 
Eggerton,  upon  that  eventful  morning  reported  a  party  of 
Burgoyne's  Tories  and  Indians  to  be  marching  up  the  Old 
Cambridge  Road,  toward  St.  Croix  Mills,  on  the  lower 
Walloomsac. 

General  Stark  called  a  council  of  war  with  Warner,  Herrick, 
Simonds, r  Hobart,2  Stickney,  and  Nichols  at  the  "Cata- 
mount Tavern."  Lieut. -Colonel  Greggs  with  two  hundred 
sharpshooters  later  marched  down  the  Walloomsac  to  head 
off  the  enemy  at  St.  Croix,  ten  miles  below  Fort  Bennington 

1  See  illustration,  Chapter  VIII.  2  Incorrectly  reported  Hubbard. 

331 


332  The  Hoosac  Valley 

storehouse.  Express  messengers  were  sent  north  and  south 
on  their  swiftest  steeds  with  marching  orders  for  Warner's 
Continental  Regiment  at  Manchester  and  for  Simonds's  and 
Patterson's  Berkshire  Regiments  at  Williamstown  and 
Pittsfield. 

Stark  broke  up  his  Bennington  Centre  encampment,  east 
of  Herrick  Tavern,  before  sunrise  and  marched  four  miles 
down  the  Walloomsac  to  the  North  Farm,  two  miles  south 
of  the  present  State  Line  Tavern.  On  the  march  he  is  said 
to  have  breakfasted  at  Sergt.  Daniel  Harmon's  Inn,  still 
standing,  two  miles  west  of  the  Battle  Monument,  and 
known  as  the  "Old  Yellow  House." 

Meanwhile,  about  four  o'clock,  Colonel  Baum  arrived  at 
Lick's  Tavern,  near  the  junction  of  the  Owl  Kill  with  the 
Hoosac,  now  the  site  of  Johnson ville,  N.  Y.,  and  his  army 
encamped  for  the  night  near  Daniel  Van  Rensselaer's  mills. 
A  scouting  party  of  thirty  Tories  and  fifty  Indians  were  sent 
in  advance,  however,  to  take  possession  of  Van  Schaick's  mills 
at  St.  Croix.  Isaac  Bull,  the  miller  at  Van  Rensselaer's  mills, 
was  commanded  to  grind  wheat  all  night  for  Baum's  army. 
In  Old  Cambridge,  Robert  Lake  with  a  team  and  herd  of  cat- 
tle was  captured  by  Baum,  while  James  Rogers,  from  the 
junction  of  the  Batten  Kill,  and  Col.  John  Williams's  family 
from  White  Creek  made  their  escape  ahead  of  his  army. 
Rogers  arrived  at  Sodom  hamlet,  near  Stark's  encampment, 
with  his  ox-team,  the  rainy  night  before  the  Battle  of  Ben- 
nington, and  Mrs.  Williams  journeyed  on  to  Williamstown, 
where  she  sold  Dr.  William  Porter  her  husband's  case  of 
amputating  instruments. 

Baum's  scouting  party  arrived  at  Van  Schaick's  mills 
and  forced  the  enemies'  guard  to  abandon  the  place.  At 
eight  o'clock  the  following  morning,  August  14th,  Baum's 
main  army  arrived  and  found  several  Falls  Quequick  skir- 
mishers, headed  by  Joel  Abbott  and  his  father,  in  the  act  of 


Major-General  John  Stark,  the  Hero  of  Bennington,  August 
16,  1777.    General  Stark  died  in  1822  at  the  age  of  Q4  years. 

{A  copy  of  the  Original  Painting  by  Tenney,  owned  by  the  City  of  Manchester, 
New  Hampshire.) 


333 


334 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


breaking  down  the  St.  Croix  Bridge  over  Little  White  Creek. 
In  a  letter  addressed  to  General  Burgoyne,  Colonel  Baum 


Van  Schaick's  Mill  at  St.  Croix  near  the  junction  of  the  Little  White  with 
the  Walloomsac  River,  Hoosac,  New  York.  The  Battle  of  Bennington  began  and 
ended  about  the  St.  Croix  Bridge,  although  the  British  and  Tory  Redoubts  occu- 
pied summits  near  the  Vermont  State  Line.  Colonels  Baum  and  Van  Pfister 
both  expired  and  were  buried  on  the  bank  of  the  Walloomsac  in  Shaftsbury, 
Vermont. 


states  that  he  was  delayed  at  St.  Croix  over  an  hour.     He 

says: 

Sancroick,  14  Aug.,  1777,  9  o'clock. 
Sir: 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  your  Excellency  that  I  arrived 
here  at  eight  in  the  morning.  Having  had  intelligence  of 
a  party  of  the  enemy  being  in  possession  of  a  mill  which 
they  abandoned,  but  in  their  usual  way  fired  from  the  bushes, 
and  took  their  road  to  Bennington,  a  savage  was  slightly 
wounded;  they  broke  down  the  bridge,  which  retarded  our 
march  above  an  hour. 

They  left  in  the  mill  1000  bushels  of  wheat  20  bbls.  of  salt 


The  Victory  of  Bennington 


335 


and  about  78  bbls.  of 
very  fine  flour,  and  £1000 
worth  of  pearl  of  potash. 
I  have  ordered  30  pro- 
vincials and  an  ofhcer  to 
guard  the  provisions, 
and  the  pass  of  the  bridge. 

By  five  prisoners  taken 
they  agree  that  1500  to 
1800  men  are  in  Benning- 
ton, but  are  supposed  to 
leave  it  on  our  approach. 

I  will  proceed  as  far 
to-day  as  to  fall  on  the 
enemy  to-morrow  early, 
and  make  such  disposi- 
tion as  I  think  necessary 
from  the  intelligence  I 
receive. 

The  people  are  flocking 
in  hourly,  but  want  to 
be  armed.  The  savages 
cannot  be  controlled — 
they  ruin  and  take  every- 
thing they  please. 

I  am  your  Excellency's 
most  obedient  and  hum- 
ble servant. 

F.  Baum. 

Beg  your  Excellency  to 
pardon  the  hurry  of  this 
letter.  It  is  wrote  on  the 
head  of  a  barrel. 

To  General  Burgoyne. 

Colonel    Greggs's    sharp- 
shooters  killed    several    of 


Slab  marking  site  of  the  British  Breast- 
Works  on  each  side  of  the  Old  Cambridge 
Road,  near  western  portal  of  Mellen's 
Bridge  now  known  as  Barnet  Bridge  over 
the  Walloomsac,  Hoosac,  New  York. 


336  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Baum's  Indians  and  retreated  about  two  miles  in  an  orderly, 
confident  manner  until  they  arrived  at  William  Mellen's 
log-house.  Here  Baum's  army  beheld  General  Stark's  main 
army,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  The  ground  did  not  appear 
to  be  adapted  for  an  attack  and  Baum  posted  his  troops 
for  the  night.  Stark  marched  his  army  two  miles  east  and 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  North  Farm  in  Bennington. 
The  meadow  is  marked  now  by  a  granite  monument.  Stark 
called  a  council  of  war,  after  which  it  was  decided  to  attack 
the  British  the  following  day,  Friday,  August  15th.  Upon 
the  morrow,  however,  rain  fell  in  torrents  and  Stark  sent 
forth  skirmishing  parties  with  the  object  only  to  molest  the 
enemy. 

According  to  Glick,  a  German  officer,  "Baum  bivouacked 
at  the  farm  of  Walmscott  (William  Mellen  or  Mullen)  by 
the  Walloonschoik  "  (Walloon's  Creek),  known  to-day  as 
Walloomsac  River,  now  the  site  of  Elmer  Gooding's  brick 
mansion.  He  sent  a  message  to  General  Burgoyne  for 
reinforcements  and  continued  to  build  redoubts. 

Baum's  Height,  known  to-day  as  Jewett's  Cobble,  north 
of  Baum's  encampment,  was  chosen  for  his  main  redoubts. 
The  summit  rises  over  four  hundred  feet  above  the  bed  of 
the  Walloomsac  and  is  now  marked  by  a  flagstaff.  Here 
Baum  posted  Riedesel's  Dragoons  and  a  brigade  of  Canadian 
Rangers.  Ten  rods  north  of  Mellen's  Bridge  over  the  Wal- 
loomsac, he  stationed  another  party  of  Riedesel's  Dragoons 
with  one  cannon ;  and  on  the  brow  of  the  steep  embankment 
above  the  river,  overlooking  Battlefield  Park  of  to-day,  he 
posted  fifty  Chasseurs.  On  both  sides  of  the  Old  Cam- 
bridge Road,  east  of  Mellen's  Bridge,  behind  light  earth- 
works, were  stationed  Canadian  Rangers  and  German 
Grenadiers. 

The  Tory  redoubt  stood  on  Van  Pfister's  Hill,  seventy  rods 
south  of  Mellen's  Bridge,  directly  south  of  Baum's  redoubts 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  337 

on  Baum's  Height.  According  to  Esquire  Nathaniel 
Wallace  of  Pownal,  the  Tory  earthworks  consisted  of  en- 
trenchments with  forest  staddles  set  closely  together  at 
their  base,  slightly  diverging  at  their  top  for  the  discharge 
of  arms.  A  platform  of  logs  and  earth  was  built  high 
enough  within  to  enable  the  gunners  to  bring  their  faces 
up  to  the  apertures  of  the  stockade  to  take  aim,  after  which 
each  man  stepped  down  and  reloaded  his  rifle.  Col.  Francis 
J.  Van  Pfister  of  White  House  Manor  of  Nepimore,  in 
Hoosac,  commanded  Peter's  regiment  of  Loyalists  at  the 
Tory  works.  Here  assembled  many  neighboring  Tories 
from  Lanesboro  and  Hancock,  Massachusetts.  Capt. 
Samuel  Anderson  led  a  Pownal  company  of  Tories,  while 
Colonel  Van  Pfister  rallied  a  large  volunteer  company  in 
Dutch  Hoosac. 

Stark's  army  was  eighteen  hundred  strong,  including  three 
New  Hampshire  regiments  under  command  of  Colonels 
Hobart,  Stickney,  and  Nichols;  Col.  William  Williams's 
Wilmington  company;  Col.  Samuel  Herrick's  regiment  of 
Vermont  Rangers,  composed  of  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson's 
East  Bennington  company,1  Capt.  Elijah  Dewey's  West 
Bennington  company,2  with  an  enrolment  of  one  liandred 
and  fifty  men,  besides  a  portion  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Brush's 
regiment  of  Vermont  Volunteers,  and  Colonel  Simonds's 
Berkshire  Regiment,  and  volunteer  companies  with  an 
enrolment  of  over  five  hundred  men. 

The  " Fighting  Parson,"  Thomas  Allen  of  Pittsfield, 
arrived  at  Stark's  North  Farm  encampment  about  two 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  16th.  He  greeted  the 
General  by  saying:  "We,  the  people  of  Berkshire,  have  fre- 
quently been  called  upon  to  fight,  but  have  never  been  led 
against  the  enemy.  We  have  now  resolved,  if  you  will  not 
let   us   fight,   never  to   turn   out   again."     General   Stark 

1  See  Note  20  at  end  of  volume.  2  See  Note  21  at  end  of  volume. 


338  The  Hoosac  Valley 

replied:  "If  the  Lord  shall  once  more  give  us  sunshine,  and 
I  do  not  give  you  fighting  enough,  I  will  never  ask  you  to 
come  out  again.' '  The  patriotic  parson  with  his  dishevelled 
hair  was  later  considered  the  most  picturesque  figure  in 
either  the  American  or  British  encampments. 

The  Bennington  Council  of  Safety  sat  in  constant  session, 
and  early  Saturday  morning,  Sergt.  Josiah  Dunning  of 
Captain  Noble's  Pownal  company,  guarding  the  Provincial 
storehouse  at  Bennington  Centre,  was  despatched  down  the 
Walloomsac  to  locate  Colonel  Breyman's  reinforcements. 
Saturday,  August  16,  1777,  dawned  very  warm,  although 
Glick,  the  German  officer,  recorded  that: 

The  storm  of  the  preceding  day  having  expended  itself, 
not  a  cloud  was  left  to  darken  the  heavens,  while  the 
very  leaves  hung  motionless,  and  the  long  grass  waved  not, 
under  the  influence  of  perfect  calm.  Every  object  around 
appeared,  too,  to  peculiar  advantage;  for  the  fields  looked 
green  and  refreshed,  the  river  was  swollen  and  tumultuous, 
and  the  branches  of  the  forest  trees  were  all  loaded  with 
devdrops,  which  glistened  in  the  sun's  early  rays  like  so 
many  diamonds.  Nor  would  it  be  possible  to  imagine 
any  scene  more  rife  with  peaceful  and  even  pastoral 
beauty. 

General  Stark's  plan  of  surrounding  Baum's  and  Van 
Pfister's  redoubts  began  long  before  sunrise,  although  little 
firing  took  place  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
British,  however,  kept  up  a  constant  bombardment,  wasting 
much  ammunition.  Warner  and  Herrick  were  familiar  with 
every  hill  and  ravine  of  the  Walloomsac,  and  the  English  his- 
torian, Gordon,  considered  that  their  "superior  military 
skill"  was  of  great  service  to  General  Stark. 

The  General,  after  his  several  regiments  were  in  readiness 
to  march  to  their  assigned  positions  on  the  field,  mounted 


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34°  The  Hoosac  Valley 

a  rail-fence  near  his  encampment  and  saluted  his  "little 
army"  saying:  "There  are  the  Redcoats  and  they  are  ours, 
or  this  night  Molly  Stark  sleeps  a  widow!" 

Colonel  Nichols  of  Bennington  with  three  hundred  New 
Hampshire  troops  marched  northeast,  through  Shaftsbury, 
Vt.,  taking  a  wide  circuit  from  Stark's  Camp,  and  came  in 
on  the  rear  left  of  Baum's  redoubt;  Colonel  Herrick  of  Ben- 
nington and  his  three  hundred  Vermont  Rangers  marched 
northwest,  through  Hoosac  and  White  Creek,  N.  Y.,  taking 
a  wide  circuit,  and  came  in  on  Baum's  rear  right. 

General  Stark  and  Colonel  Warner  with  one  hundred 
sharpshooters  at  two-thirty  o'clock  charged  Baum's  front 
on  Baum's  Height  until  Herrick's  and  Nichols's  regiments 
arrived  in  position.  Thomas  Mellen  recorded  that  General 
Stark  came  galloping  forward  with  shoulders  bent,  and  cried 
out  to  his  men,  "Those  rascals  know  that  I  am  an  officer; 
don't  you  see  they  honor  me  with  a  big  gun  as  a  salute!" 
However,  Stark's  men  continued  to  march  round  and  round 
the  base  of  Baum's  Height  to  "amuse  the  Germans,"  until 
three  o'clock. 

Herrick's  and  Nichols's  salute  opened  battle  about  Baum's 
and  Van  Pfister's  redoubts  simultaneously. 

Silas  Walbridge,  a  member  of  Capt.  John  Warner's  com- 
pany, posted  on  front  of  Herrick's  rangers,  said  that  just 
before  arriving  at  Baum's  redoubt,  a  party  of  Indians  came 
in  sight.  Fearing  that  they  were  surrounded,  they  retreated 
single  file  between  Herrick's  and  Nichols's  regiments,  which 
caused  a  delay  in  attacking  Baum's  earthworks  until  after 
the  savages  sought  the  shelter  of  the  woods  amid  wild  war- 
whoops  and  jingling  of  cow-bells. 

The  details  of  the  two  hours'  fight  of  the  Patriots  about 
Baum's  and  Van  Pfister's  redoubts  are  sadly  wanting  in 
our  local  history.  The  German  officer,  Glick,  recorded  that : 
"While  the  British  outworks  were  swept  away  with  ease, 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  341 

it  was  not  so  with  Baum's  main  entrenchment,  where  his 
faithful  veterans  were  stationed.  They  were  slow  to  believe 
that  they  could  be  vanquished." 

Colonel  Baum  was  momentarily  looking  for  the  arrival 
of  Breyman's  reinforcements,  when  the  solitary  tumbril, 
containing  all  the  spare  ammunition  of  the  British,  exploded 
with  great  violence.  General  Stark  and  his  veterans,  though 
arrested  by  the  sudden  concussion,  rushed  fearlessly  forward, 
sprang  over  the  parapet,  and  dashed  within  Baum's  earth- 
works. Rifle,  bayonet,  and  butt  of  gun  were  in  full  play 
and  a  few  moments'  action  finished  the  work.  Glick  cut  his 
way  through  the  Americans'  columns  and  made  his  escape 
to  tell  the  tale.  The  Hessian  hirelings  surpassed  in  valor 
the  Canadians  and  Loyalists,  who  like  the  Indians  retreated 
to  the  woods. 

Whatever  the  New  Englanders  lacked  in  military  training, 
arms,  and  uniforms,  they  made  up  in  daring  self-command. 
Clad  as  they  were,  in  linen  tow  trousers  and  shirt-sleeves, 
without  cumbersome  head-gear  and  knapsacks,  they  won  an 
advantage  on  the  steep  and  slippery  embankment  of  the 
Walloomsac  over  the  German  Grenadiers  in  their  full  uniform 
and  caps. 

Colonel  Van  Pfister's  Tory  redoubt  on  Van  Pfister's  Hill 
was  surrounded  by  Colonels  Hobart's,  Stickney's,  and  Si- 
monds's  New  Hampshire  and  Berkshire  Boys,  who  with 
" Fighting  Parson"  Thomas  Allen,  routed  the  Tories  from 
their  earthworks.  The  latter  ran  for  their  lives  toward 
Baum's  redoubt,  only  to  meet  his  Hessians  rushing  down 
Baum's  Height  to  the  Walloomsac.  The  first  man  reported 
to  leap  over  the  Tory  redoubt  was  Capt.  Ebenezer  Webster 
of  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  father  of  the  famous  statesman,  Daniel 
Webster.  Jacob  Onderkirk,  a  neighbor  of  Col.  Francis  J.  Van 
Pfister,  of  White  House  near  the  site  of  Le  Grand  Tibbits's 
Lodge,  west  of  White  House  Bridge  in  Hoosac,  is  reported 


342  The  Hoosac  Valley 

to  have  fired  the  fatal  ball  which  mortally  wounded  the 
Tory  colonel.  The  wounded  Colonel  Van  Pfister  was  finally 
captured  by  Jonathan  Armstrong  of  Dorset,  Vt. 

Linius  Parker  of  Lenox,  Mass.,  reported  that  the  fleeing 
Loyalists,  while  climbing  the  steep  embankment  of  the 
Walloomsac,  were  followed  by  a  volley  of  sharpshooters' 
bullets.  Many  of  the  wounded  and  dying  rolled  down  the 
slope  and  into  the  swollen  and  tumultuous  river.  Herrick's 
Vermont  Rangers  fought  with  desperation  about  Baum's 
redoubt,  approaching  within  eight  paces  of  the  loaded  can- 
non in  order  to  take  surer  aim  at  the  gunners.  Lieut. 
Joseph  Rudd  of  Captain  Dewey's  West  Bennington  com- 
pany, in  a  letter  dated  August  26,  1777, "  said:  "We  marched 
right  against  Baum's  breastworks  with  small  arms,  where 
the  enemy  fired  their  field  pieces  every  half  minute."  They 
drove  the  Hessians  from  their  earthworks. 

Baum's  cannons  were  hauled  to  the  rear  of  Stark's  army 
by  James  Rogers's  yoke  of  oxen.  Nearly  all  of  Baum's  Hes- 
sians were  slain  or  taken  prisoners.  Baum  himself  did  not 
surrender  until  fatally  wounded.  He  was  captured  by 
Lieut.  Thomas  Jewett  of  Capt.  Dewey's  West  Bennington 
company.  Both  Baum's  and  Van  Pfister's  wounds  were 
examined  on  the  field  by  Dr.  Oliver  Partridge  of  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  and  pronounced  fatal. 

The  dying  commanders  were  borne  on  the  backs  of  their 
captors  to  the  Duer  House,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  east  of  the 
State  Line,  in  the  town  of  Shaftsbury.  The  famous  house 
stood  until  1865  over  the  site  of  the  well,  still  in  use,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  road,  opposite  Stark's  paper  mill,  in  the 
hamlet  of  Sodom.  Lieut.  Thomas  Jewett  secured  Baum's 
sword  and  Jonathan  Armstrong  obtained  Van  Pfister's  set  of 
draughting  instruments,  a  map  of  the  route  from  St.  Johns, 
Canada,  to  Albany,  together  with  his  commission  of  lieut- 

*  See  Note  22  at  end  of  volume. 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  343 

enant-colonel,  dated  September  18,  1760,  signed  by  General 
Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst. 

The  roar  of  musketry  and  cannon  during  the  first  hour  of 
the  raging  battle  was  heard  twenty  miles  south  of  Benning- 
ton Centre,  in  Williamstown ;  and  the  battle  smoke  was 
visible  thirty  miles  westward  on  Bemis  Heights,  in  Old 
Saratoga,  N.  Y. 

Breyman's  army  received  marching  orders  to  reinforce 
Baum  from  Sir  Francis  Clarke  at  eight  o'clock,  Thursday 
evening,  August  14th,  and  left  the  Batten  Kill  Camp  an  hour 
later.  His  guide  lost  the  road  and  on  the  rainy  night  of 
the  15th,  Breyman  halted  his  troops  for  the  night  seven 
miles  below  Old  Cambridge  Village.  A  message  from  Baum 
at  early  dawn  on  August  16th  urged  him  forward  with  all 
speed.  He  arrived  at  St.  Croix  Bridge,  two  miles  below 
Baum's  Height,  about  half -past  four  o'clock,  during  the 
last  struggle  of  Baum  and  his  veteran  Hessians.  Here  he 
was  met  by  an  advance  guard  of  sixty  Grenadiers  and 
Chasseurs,  and  twenty  riflemen  under  the  Tory,  Col.  Philip 
Skene  from  Whitehall  Manor. 

Colonel  Breyman's  army,  however,  was  delayed  half  an 
hour  at  St.  Croix  by  a  body  of  American  skirmishers,  in- 
cluding William  Gilmore,  Thomas  Mellen,  and  Jesse  Field, 
who  were  in  the  act  of  tearing  down  the  trestles  of  the  bridge 
ever  Little  White  Creek  with  axes.  This  delay  gave  Warn- 
er's reinforcements  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  Continentals 
from  Manchester  opportunity  to  arrive  on  the  field  in  time 
to  repulse  Breyman's  troopers  and  win  the  closing  victory 
of  August  16,  1777 — a  day  ever  famous  in  the  annals  of 
American  history. 

Breyman  first  announced  his  advance  to  Stark's  scattered 
troops  by  a  volley  of  grape-shot  from  his  two  large  cannon. 
The  "Fighting  Parson"  Allen  said  that  the  exhausted  Gen- 
eral Stark  became  confused  when  he  beheld  Breyman's  large 


344  The  Hoosac  Valley 

army;  pnd  William  Carpenter,  a  soldier  of  the  Swansea 
company  of  the  New  Hampshire  Regiment,  according  to 
his  son,  Judge  Carpenter  of  Akron,  Ohio,  reported  that  Stark 
ordered  his  men  to  retreat.  At  that  critical  moment  Col. 
Seth  Warner  and  Maj.  Isaac  Stratton,  the  latter  a  member 
of  Capt.  Samuel  Clark's  South  Williamstown  company, 
rode  up,  and  Thomas  Mellen  reported  that  the  "  Maj  or 
on  his  black  horse  shouted,  '  Fight  on  Boys,  reinforcements 
close  by' !" 

In  about  five  minutes  after  the  arrival  of  Major  Stratton, 
Capt.  Jacob  Safford  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  of  Col- 
onel Warner's  Continentals  arrived  and  fired  upon  Brey- 
man's  right  and  left  flanks.  Stark's  scattered  men  now  took 
courage  and  fought  desperately.  Thomas  Mellen's  gun 
barrel  became  so  hot  that  he  could  not  handle  it.  He  seized 
a  dead  Hessian's  musket  and  continued  to  send  the  bullets 
flying  to  their  deadly  mark.  Beholding  the  Tory  Colonel 
Skene  on  his  gray  steed,  waving  his  sword  to  Breyman's 
gunners,  he  sent  a  ball  which  felled  his  horse  beneath  him. 
Skene  rose  and  cut  the  traces  of  one  of  the  artillery  horses, 
mounted,  and  rode  off. 

The  Council  of  Safety  at  Bennington  Centre  about  six 
o'clock  despatched  a  circular  message  to  Williamstown, 
stating  that  "  Stark  is  now  in  an  action  which  has  been  for 
some  time  very  severe.  .  .  .  The  enemy  were  driven;  but 
being  reinforced,  made  a  second  stand  and  still  continue  the 
conflict.  But  we  have  taken  their  cannon,  and  prisoners, 
said  to  number  four  or  five  hundred,  are  now  arriving." 

The  second  battle  between  Breyman  and  Stark  continued 
for  two  hours,  until  after  sunset.  Stark  stated  that  only 
darkness  prevented  the  Patriots  from  capturing  the  whole 
body  of  Germans.  Their  cannon  were  both  taken  and 
turned  upon  the  fleeing  enemy.  Colonel  Breyman,  unlike 
Colonel  Baum,  made  his  escape,  although  several  of  his 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  345 

officers  surrendered  on  the  hill  southwest  of  William  Chase's 
homestead,  near  St.  Croix  Mill,  in  the  hamlet  of  North  Hoo- 
sac.  Among  Baum's  and  Breyman's  officers  made  prisoners 
were  one  major,  seven  captains,  fourteen  lieutenants,  four 
ensigns,  two  coronets,  one  judge-advocate,  one  Hessian 
chaplain,  one  surgeon  and  a  German  baron,  an  aide-de-camp 
of  Colonel  Baum,  besides  the  Tory  Colonel  Van  Pfister. 

The  historian  Bancroft,  who  had  access  to  German  reports, 
is  authority  for  the  statement  that  Baum's  army  contained 
more  than  four  hundred  Brunswickers,  Hanan  gunners  with 
two  cannon,  a  select  corps  of  British  marksmen,  a  party  of 
French  Canadians,  a  more  numerous  party  of  Provincial 
Loyalists,  and  a  horde  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  In- 
dians. General  Stark  also  considered  Colonel  Breyman's  rein- 
forcements a  large  army.  According  to  historians  Thatcher 
and  Butler,  it  contained  one  thousand  German  regulars. 

After  Baum's  defeat,  Aaron  Hubbell  and  Josiah  Dunning 
reported  that  they  left  the  battle-field  as  guard,  placed  over 
six  hundred  prisoners.  The  Hessians  and  Tories  were 
bound  two  by  two  with  bed-cords  and  were  marched  to  the 
First  Church  at  Bennington  Centre.  As  they  passed  "  Cata- 
mount Tavern,"  landlord  Stephen  Fay  stepped  out  and 
greeted  the  prisoners  with  a  gracious  bow,  informing  them 
that  their  dinner,  which  Colonel  Baum  had  ordered  by 
messenger  for  them  the  day  before,  was  ready. 

The  wounded  on  the  American  side  consisted  of  about 
forty-five  men,  who  were  borne  to  their  homes  on  feather 
beds,  and  the  famous  surgeon,  Dr.  William  Porter  of  Wil- 
liamstown,  Mass.,  attended  them  the  following  morning. 
Twenty-four  hours  after  Colonels  Baum  and  Van  Pfister  were 
wounded,  they  expired  at  the  Duer  House.  Capt.  Samuel 
Robinson,  left  in  charge  of  the  dying  officers,  later  related 
that  "a  more  intelligent  and  brave  officer  he  had  never  seen, 
than  the  unfortunate  Lieut.-Colonel  Baum."     The  German 


346  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  the  Tory  commanders  were  buried  side  by  side  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Walloomsac,  in  Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  beneath 
an  elm  tree  in  Charles  B.  Allen's  meadow,  a  few  rods  west 
of  the  Stark  paper-mill.  Their  graves  have  never  been 
located  nor  marked. 

After  the  victory  of  Bennington,  the  Council  of  Safety  sent 
a  hogshead  of  rum  to  Stark's  weary  troopers  encamped  on  the 
gruesome  Walloomsac  battle-field.  Many  drank  more  than 
they  needed  and  overcome  with  heat,  slept  in  a  near-by  corn- 
field, where  each  soldier  shared  a  corn-hill  for  a  pillow.  Gen- 
eral Stark  himself  was  ill  two  or  three  days  after  the  battle. 

The  heroic  Hessians  slain  during  Baum's  battle  were 
buried  on  William  Mellen's  farm,  and  during  1838  many  of 
their  mouldering  bones  were  unearthed  in  a  potato  field 
near  the  present  Barnet  house. 

After  Breyman's  battle,  the  dead  scattered  between 
Mellen's  Bridge  and  St.  Croix,  were  gathered  and  buried  in 
two  great  hollows  east  of  the  brick  schoolhouse  at  Sickles' s 
Mills,  now  Walloomsac  hamlet.  The  Hessian  prisoners  who 
died  from  their  wounds  were  buried  later  in  the  centre  of 
the  Old  First  Church  burial-field  at  Bennington  Centre. 
Their  graves  are  now  marked  by  a  monument. 

The  American  trophies  of  war  consisted  of  seven  hundred 
stand  of  arms,  four  brass  cannon,  brass  barrelled  drums, 
several  Hessian  swords,  about  seven  hundred  prisoners. 
The  number  of  the  enemy's  wounded  is  unknown.  Two 
hundred  and  seven  of  the  enemy  were  slain  on  the  field. 
Burgoyne's  Orderly  Book  recorded  Baum's  and  Breyman's 
loss,  including  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  twelve  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men..  Lieut.  Joseph  Rudd1  of  Bennington, 
in  a  letter  dated  August  26th,  after  the  battles,  states  that, 
"one  thousand  of  the  enemy  were  slain  and  captured." 

General  Washington  considered  the  Victory  of  Benning- 

1  See  Note  22,  at  end  of  volume. 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  347 

ton  "a  great  stroke."  General  Lincoln  declared  it  to  be 
"the  capital  blow  of  the  Revolution,"  and  historian  Bancroft 
records  it  as  "one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  eventful  strokes 
of  the  Revolutionary  War."  The  Rev.  Wheeler  Case,  a 
contemporary  poet,  has  expressed  it  thus: 

At  Bennington,  Stark  gave  the  wound 
Which,  like  a  gangrene,  spread  around. 

The  Indians  now  ceased  their  scalping  forays  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  savages  joined  the  American  army  at  Old 
Saratoga  against  the  British. 

The  Tory  prisoners  were  guarded  in  Capt.  Elijah  Dewey's 
barn  until  September  4,  1777,  and  later  removed  to  the  log 
schoolhouse  and  Old  First  Church.  During  January,  1778, 
Capt.  Samuel  Robinson  detached  a  party  of  prisoners  under 
guard  to  tread  down  the  drifted  roads  over  the  Green  Moun- 
tains to  Col.  William  Williams's  home  in  Wilmington,  Vt. 
Others  were  banished  from  the  Green  Mountains,  under 
penalty  of  death  should  they  return ;  and  a  few  were  sent  to 
Simsbury  Mines,  the  Revolutionary  Newgate *  prison,  located 
in  the  abandoned  copper  mines  of  East  Granby,  Conn., 
where  they  died. 

The  two,  small,  three-pounder  cannon,  taken  from  Baum's 
redoubt  on  Baum's  Height,  are  now  in  the  State  House  at 
Montpelier,  Vt.  General  Stark  presented  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont  one  Hessian  gun  and  bayonet, 
one  broadsword,  one  brass-barrelled  drum,  and  one  Grena- 
dier's cap.  The  trophies  presented  to  Massachusetts  were 
suspended  in  the  Senate  Chamber  at  Boston,  opposite  the 
Speaker's  chair.  The  copy  of  the  letter  of  thanks  from  the 
President  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  to  General  Stark, 
dated  after  the  surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga,  is 
of  local  interest  to  Hoosactonians : 

1  Lippincott's  Magazine,  March,   1881. 


348  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
Sir.  Boston,  Dec.  5,  1777. 

The  General  Assembly  of  this  State  take  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  acceptable 
present,  the  token  of  victory  gained  at  the  memorable 
battle  of  Bennington.1  The  events  of  that  day  strongly 
marked  the  bravery  of  the  men,  who,  unskilled  in  war, 
forced  from  their  entrenchments  a  chosen  number  of  veteran 
troops  of  boasted  Britons,  as  well  as  the  address  and  valor  of 
the  general  who  directed  their  movements,  and  led  them  on 
to  conquest.  This  signal  exploit  opened  the  way  to  a  rapid 
succession  of  advantages,  most  important  to  America. 

These  trophies  shall  be  safely  deposited  in  the  Archives 
of  the  State,  and  there  remind  posterity  of  the  irresistible 
power  of  the  God  of  armies  in  the  honors  due  to  the  memory 
of  the  brave. 

Still  attended  with  like  successes,  may  you  long  enjoy  the 
reward  of  your  grateful  country.         Jeremiah    Powell, 

President  of  the  Council. 
To  Brigadier-General  John  Stark. 

The  centennial  celebration  of  Stark's  Victory  of  Benning- 
ton on  August  16,  1877  was  attended  by  thousands  of  de- 
scendants of  the  Revolutionary  heroes,  on  the  Old  Military 
Parade  grounds,  southeast  of  Bennington  Centre.  Ruther- 
ford B.  Hayes,  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Mrs. 
Hayes  were  present,  and  the  poet,  Wallace  Bruce  of  New 
England,  read  a  poem  descriptive  of  " Fighting  Parson" 
Allen  and  the  Berkshire  Boys: 

The  Catamount  Tavern  is  lonely  to-night; 

The  Boys  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  are  here, 
Drawn  up  in  line  in  the  gloaming  light 

To  greet  Parson  Allen  with  shout  and  with  cheer. 
*  The  Americans' victory  was  reported  by  contemporaries  as  the  "Battle  of 
Bennington,"  although  won  on  banks  of  Walloomsac  in  Hoosac  and  White 
Creek,  N.  Y.    Both  Baum  and  Van  Pfister  died  and  were  buried  in  Shaftsbury, 
Vermont. 


Bennington  Battle  Monument  marking  site  of  the  Americans'  Continental  store- 
house of  State  Arms  and  Provision  at  the  head  of  the  Parade,  Bennington  Centre, 
Vermont,  August  16,  1777.  It  is  the  highest  Battle  Monument  in  the  world  and 
towers  over  302  feet  in  height  on  the  summit  of  Bennington  Hill,  overlooking 
the  entire  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  Valleys.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  at  the 
Centennial,  August  16,  1877,  and  the  monument  dedicated  August  16,  i8qi, 
a  century  after   Vermont's  admittance  to  the  Union. 

It  needs  no  monumental  pile  The  fair  Green  Hills  rise  proudly  up 

To  tell  each  storied  name,  To  consecrate  their  fame. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin,  Bennington  Battle,  1837. 
349 


350 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


4 'To-morrow/'  said  Stark,  "there'll  be  fighting  to  do, 
If  you  think  you  can  wait  till  the  morning's  light, 

And,  Parson,  I  '11  conquer  the  British  with  you, 
Or  my  Molly  will  be  a  widow  to-night!" 


One  of  the 
significan  t 
mottoes  ob- 
served on  the 
banners  float- 
ing above  the 
streets  of  his- 
toric Benning- 
ton declared 
that:  "Molly 
Stark  did  not 
sleep  a  widow, 
August     1 6, 

I777-" 

The  Ben- 
nington Battle 
Monument, 
towering  over 
302  feet  on  the 
site  of  the  Pro- 
vincial store- 
house, is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  the  highest  battle  monument  in  the  world. 
It  was  dedicated,  August  16,  1891,  by  a  salute  from  Baum's 
cannon,  captured  August  16,  1777.  General  Burgoyne's 
camp-kettle,  recovered  after  the  surrender  of  the  British  at 
Old  Saratoga,  is  now  suspended  in  the  main  hall  of  the  en- 
trance to  the  Bennington  Monument.  Here,  too,  should  hang 
the  portrait  of  General  Stark,  the  ' '  Hero  of  Bennington. ' '    He 


Camp-Kettle  of  General  Burgoyne  captured  after  the 
Surrender  of  the  British  at  Old  Saratoga,  October  17,  1777. 
The  historic  Kettle  now  hangs  in  the  Hall  of  Entrance 
to  Bennington  Battle  Monument. 


The  Victory  of  Bennington  351 

was  born  in  Nutfield,  now  Londonderry,  N.  H.,  in  1728,  and 
made  his  residence  later  in  Manchester,  N.  H.  He  was  the 
hero  of  two  wars  and  the  survivor  of  a  third.  At  his  death 
in  1822  he  was  ninety-four  years  old,  and  the  last  but  one 
of  the  American  generals  of  the  Revolution.  His  monument 
to-day  commands  a  prospect  several  miles  up  and  down  the 
Merrimac  Valley,  near  his  native  town. 

General  Stark's  Victory  of  Bennington  proved  to  be  the 
opening  skirmish  which  led  to  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne 
at  Old  Saratoga,  two  months  later,  on  October  17,  1777. 

True  to  its  trust,  Walloomsac  long 

The  record  bright  shall  bear; 
Who  came  up  at  the  battle  sound, 

And  fought  for  freedom  there.1 

1  Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin,  Bennington  Battle,  1837. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

surrender  of  the  british  at  old   saratoga 
October  17,  1777 

From  Saratoga's  hills  we  date  the  birth, — 
Our  Nation's  birth  among  the  powers  of  earth. 

There  to  our  flag  bowed  England's  battle  torn; 
Where  now  we  stand  th'  United  States  was  born. 

J.  Watts  De  Peyster,  The  Surrender. 

Old  Saratoga — American  and  British  Encampments — Battles  of  September 
19th  and  October  7th — Burgoyne's  Surrender —  Evacuation  of  British — 
Centennial — Battle  Monument,  1877. 

THE  campaign  ground  of  Old  Saratoga,  six  miles  in  width 
on  both  banks  of  the  Hudson  between  the  Mohawk, 
Hoosac,  Fish  Creek,  and  Batten  Kill,  has  witnessed  many 
conflicts.  It  is  principally  interesting  to  the  historian  by 
having  been  the  scene  of  the  most  decisive  victory  won  by 
the  Americans  during  the  Revolution. 

Gen.  Winfield  Scott  in  1857  visited  the  site  of  General 
Schuyler's  American  fortifications,  built  by  the  Polish 
engineer,  Thaddeus  Kosciusko,  on  Haver  Island,  below 
Cohoes  Falls,  and  on  Bemis  Heights  in  Stillwater.  He 
considered  that  those  redoubts  occupied  the  most  formidable 
position  on  the  banks  of  the  upper  Hudson  for  the  defence 
of  Albany.  The  Hudson  Pass  east  of  Bemis  Heights,  Bur- 
goyne  acknowledged  later,  he  dared  not  attempt  to  force. 
The  slopes  were  crowned  with  batteries  extending  to  the 
river's  edge,  and  the  constant  fire  of  those  guns  prevented 

352 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga       353 

the  British  from  marching  down  the  narrow  Hudson  Pass 
to  Albany. 

The  Old  Saratoga  intervale,  located  on  both  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  between  the  junction  of  the  Hoosac  and  Batten 
Kill,  during  Burgoyne's  invasion  consisted  of  a  dense  marsh- 
land clothed  with  pine,  oak,  and  mixed  wood.  Scarcely  a 
dwelling  was  to  be  found  to  a  square  mile  between  Fort 
Half -Moon  and  Fort  Saratoga.  The  hamlet  of  Schuyler's 
Mills  lay  in  the  southwest  angle  of  Fish  Creek  and  Hudson 
River.  It  contained  the  Provincial  storehouse,  Gen.  Philip 
Schuyler's  mansion,  mills,  barns,  and  slaves'  cottages. 
Dominie  Drummond's  Dutch  Church  was  located  at  the 
junction  of  the  road  to  Victory  Village ;  and  the  dwellings  of 
Abram  Marshall,  Thomas  Jordan,  and  John  McCarty  stood 
in  the  neighborhood.  North  of  Fish  Creek,  lay  the  ruins 
of  Fort  Hardy,  known  as  "  Montressor's  Folly,"  begun 
by  Col.  James  Montressor  in  1757,  and  Peter  Lansing's 
dwelling,  built  in  1773,  known  to-day  as  the  Marshall  House. 
On  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  below  the  junction  of  the 
Batten  Kill,  stood  the  farmhouses  of  Thomas  Rogers  and 
Garret  De  Ridder. 

At  Coveville,  two  miles  south  of  Schuyler's  Mills,  Jacobus 
Swart  built  the  Dovegat  house  about  1 765  and  was  followed 
by  Col.  Cornelius  Van  Vechten  and  his  three  sons.  General 
Burgoyne  in  1777  made  his  headquarters  at  Dovegat  House 
— the  haunt  of  the  wild  pigeons.  The  name  has  its  origin 
in  the  Dutch  duivenkot  (dove-cote),  according  to  Arnold 
J.  F.  Van  Laer,  the  Albany  Archivist.  A  mile  below  Dovegat 
stood  the  Sword  House,  and  still  farther  south  resided 
Ezekiel  Ensign,  John  Taylor,  David  Shepherd,  the  Vernon 
and  Van  Denburgh  families,  and  Fothem  Bemis,  at  the  base 
of  Bemis  Heights.  The  slopes  west  of  John  Taylor's  house 
and  Bemis's  Tavern  were  settled  by  Isaac  Freeman,  Fones 
Wilbur,  John    Neilson,    Asa    Chatfield,    Simeon    Barbour, 


354  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

George  Coulter,  Ephraim  Woodworth,  and  the  McBrides. 

At  Stillwater,  three  miles  south  of  Bemis  Heights,  resided 
several  Dutch  and  English  families,  including  Dirck  Swart 
and  the  Quakers,  Gabriel  and  Isaac  Leggett.  Among  other 
Old  Saratoga  patriots  may  be  mentioned  Capt.  Hezekiah 
Dunham,  Conrad  Kremer,  James  Brisbin,  John  Walker, 
John  Woeman,  William  Green,  Thomas  Smith  ,  John  S trover 
George  Davis,  Sherman  Patterson,  Daniel  Guile,  the  Web- 
ster, Cross,  and  Denny  families. 

General  Schuyler  on  July  31,  1777,  ordered  General  St. 
Clair  and  General  Arnold  to  march  their  regiments  to 
Schuyler's  Mills.  The  Provincial  stores  were  moved  to 
Albany,  while  General  Schuyler  and  his  officers  explored  the 
Heights  of  Saratoga  on  horseback,  hoping  to  locate  a  for- 
midable position  to  repulse  the  British.  He  was  unsuccess- 
ful and  on  August  3d  ordered  his  troops  to  Stillwater. 
General  Schuyler  made  his  headquarters  in  the  Dirck  Swart 
House,  and  on  Wednesday,  August  13th,  while  his  men  were 
building  redoubts,  news  of  Gen.  Nicholas  Herkimer's  Victory 
of  Oriskany  on  August  6th  over  Col.  Barry  St.  Leger's 
Britishers  reached  Schuyler's  Stillwater  camp. 

A  council  of  war  was  called  at  the  Swart  House  about  the 
same  time  that  General  Stark  and  his  officers  were  holding 
a  similar  council  at  the  Catamount  Tavern  at  Bennington 
Centre  to  repulse  Col.  Frederick  Baum's  Hessians  on  August 
16,  1777.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  General  Schuyler 
expected  Burgoyne  to  break  up  his  Batten  Kill  encampment, 
he  sent  General  Arnold  with  a  detachment  up  the  Mohawk 
to  defend  Fort  Schuyler  against  St.  Leger's  troops.  St. 
Leger,  however,  informed  Burgoyne  that  the  Mohawk 
Valley  forts  required  a  train  of  artillery  of  which  he  was  not 
master.  General  Washington's  main  army  at  that  time 
was  watching  the  movements  of  the  British  under  Generals 
Howe  and  Clinton,  located  in  the  Delaware  Basin  and  in 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      355 

New  York  Bay.  He  was  unable  to  send  reinforcements  to 
General  Schuyler  to  hold  back  Burgoyne's  ten  thousand 
troops  from  Canada. 

After  General  Arnold's  regiment  marched  up  the  Mohawk, 
General  Schuyler  broke  up  his  Stillwater  encampment, 
August  15th,  and  encamped  at  the  "Sprouts  of  the 
Mohawk,"  near  Waterford.  The  same  day  the  Berkshire 
and  Bennington  volunteers  rallied  at  General  Stark's  Wal- 
loomsac  encampment  in  Bennington,  where  they  were  des- 
tined to  win  the  Victory  of  Bennington,  the  following  day. 
General  Schuyler  made  his  headquarters  at  Van  Schaick's 
Mansion  on  Van  Schaick's  Island.  His  engineer,  Kosciusko, 
built  earthworks  on  the  crescent  points  of  Haver  Island, 
south  of  the  Fourth  Sprout  of  the  Mohawk,  which  are 
reached  to-day  by  the  bridge  at  the  foot  of  Second  Street, 
south  of  the  Union  Toll  Bridge  in  Waterford. 

General  Schuyler's  movements  led  the  New  Englanders 
to  brand  him,  however,  as  a  coward  and  to  suspect  him  as 
disloyal  to  the  Americans'  Cause.  Later,  Congress  retired 
him,  without  the  sanction  of  Gen.  George  Washington,  and 
appointed  Gen.  Horatio  Gates  in  his  place.  Yet  Gen.  Philip 
Schuyler's  knowledge  of  Half-Moon  and  Saratoga  manors, 
his  superior  generalship,  patriotism,  and  generous  purse 
proved  his  loyalty  to  and  bravery  in  behalf  of  the  Americans' 
cause.  Next  to  Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revo- 
lution, General  Schuyler  advanced  a  larger  sum  than  any  one 
else,  amounting  to  £20,000,  much  of  which  was  never  returned 
to  him  by  the  United  States. 

General  Gates  arrived  at  Van  Schaick's  Mansion  with  his 
commission  as  Commander  of  the  Northern  Department  of 
the  American  Army  on  August  19th,  and  General  Schuyler 
retired.  A  council  of  war  was  called  to  which  Gates  did  not 
invite  Schuyler.  Gouverneur  Morris  at  the  time  said  that: 
"The    new    Commander-in-Chief  .  .  .  may,   if    he  please, 


356  The  Hoosac  Valley 

neglect  to  ask  or  disdain  to  receive  advice;  but  those  who 
know  him  well,  I  am  sure,  are  convinced  that  he  needs  it." 

After  the  simultaneous  clipping  of  both  Burgoyne's  right 
and  left  wings  at  Oriskany  on  August  6th,  and  at  Bennington 
ten  days  later,  six  thousand  American  troops  were  set  at 
liberty  and  rallied  at  Schuyler's  Hudson  Valley  encamp- 
ments. Generals  Lincoln  and  Stark  marched  their  troops 
from  Manchester  and  Bennington,  Vt.,  to  guard  Loudon's 
ferry  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson.  General  Arnold's 
troops,  after  their  return  from  Fort  Schuyler,  were  posted 
at  the  Mohawk  ford  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson.  Gen- 
eral Gates,  however,  attributed  this  grand  rally  of  New  Eng- 
land troops  to  his  having  been  appointed,  although  most  of 
the  volunteers  were  on  the  march  at  the  time  General 
Schuyler  retired. 

Gates  soon  considered  that  his  army  was  large  enough 
to  repulse  Burgoyne's  army,  and  presently  marched  up  the 
Hudson. 

The  American  army  encamped  at  Stillwater,  September 
8th,  and  General  Gates  ordered  his  men  to  throw  up  en- 
trenchments. Engineer  Kosciusko  considered  Bemis  Heights, 
three  miles  north  of  Stillwater  Village,  a  more  formidable 
position,  and  on  September  13th,  Gates  moved  his  army 
to  that  place.  He  made  his  headquarters  at  Fothem  Bemis's 
Tavern  and  ordered  a  floating  bridge  built  over  the  Hudson. 
Batteries  were  mounted  from  the  river  edge  westward  to  the 
summit  of  Bemis  Heights;  and  John  Neilson's  farmhouse 
was  converted  into  Fort  Neilson,  where  General  Gates  and 
his  officers  made  their  headquarters.  Willard,  the  famous 
scout,  posted  himself  with  his  field-glass  on  his  own  Mount 
Willard,  six  miles  east  of  Fort  Neilson,  and  signalled  Bur- 
goyne's movements  to  the  Americans  on  Bemis  Heights. 
Burgoyne,  although  unfamiliar  with  the  swampy  intervale 
of  the  Hudson,  failed  to  send  out  scouts  to  locate  Gates's 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      357 

army,  yet  he  could  hear  the  bugle-call  and  drum-beat  of 
the  Americans  each  morning. 

Burgoyne  broke  up  his  Batten  Kill  Camp  and  built  a 
pontoon  bridge  of  scows  425  feet  in  length,  over  the  Hud- 
son September  13th.  After  General  Riedesel's  right  wing 
crossed  over  the  bridge  on  the  15th,  Burgoyne  ordered  the 
bridge  broken  up  and  marched  his  army  south,  two  miles 
to  Coveville.  His  headquarters  were  at  S wart's  Dovegat 
House  and  the  next  morning  on  horseback  he  explored  the 
slopes  about  Wilbur  Basin,  hoping  to  locate  the  American 
Camp. 

On  September  17th,  Burgoyne  moved  his  army  one  mile 
south  of  Dovegat  and  encamped  on  the  Sword  farm.  A 
party  of  his  men  and  women,  while  digging  potatoes  in  a 
field,  were  surprised  by  an  ambuscade  of  Americans  and 
twenty  were  captured  with  their  baskets  of  potatoes.  Col- 
onel Colburn  with  a  party  of  New  Hampshire  scouts  early 
on  September  19th  climbed  trees  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Hudson,  opposite  the  Sword  cottage,  and  gained  a  view  of  the 
British  encampment.  They  counted  eight  hundred  tents 
and  observed  movements  indicating  Burgoyne's  advance, 
after  which  the  Americans  made  ready  for  battle. 

About  eleven  o'clock  Burgoyne's  army  began  to  advance 
in  battle  order  of  three  columns  against  the  central  line  of 
the  Americans  at  Fort  Neilson.  General  Arnold  urged 
Gates  to  advance  his  army  and  meet  the  British  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ravine,  north  of  Freeman's  clearing.  But  Gates  did  not 
think  well  of  this  advice.  However,  at  half -past  twelve 
Gates  sent  General  Morgan  and  his  Virginian  Sharpshooters, 
together  with  General  Dearborn's  New  Hampshire  troops, 
forth  to  meet  Major  Forbes' s  scouting  brigade  of  Indians 
near  Freeman's  cottage.  Half  an  hour  later,  Burgoyne's 
main  army  lined  up  on  the  north  side  of  the  clearing.  Fra- 
ser's  brigade  marched  up  on  the  western  flanks  and  Riedesel's 


358  The  Hoosac  Valley 

regiment  was  stationed  on  the  eastern  flanks  along  the 
Hudson  River  Road. 

At  four  o'clock  the  battle  raged  furiously  between  Fraser 
and  Arnold.  Each  was  determined  on  victory  or  death. 
The  two  armies  met  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  only  to 
break,  retreat,  and  return  again  and  again  with  renewed 
fury.  As  twilight  deepened  Riedesel's  German  Grenadiers 
and  Breyman's  Hessians  rushed  up  the  eastern  slope  of 
Bemis  Heights,  mounted  Captain  Pausch's  battery,  south  of 
Freeman's  cottage,  and  forced  Arnold's  and  Morgan's  sharp- 
shooters to  retreat.  Darkness  soon  fell  over  the  Saratoga 
Hills  and  Burgoyne  ordered  his  men  to  cease  firing.  The 
Americans  claimed  the  victory  of  the  day,  since  they  lost 
only  319  men,  ten  per  cent,  of  their  forces,  while  the  British 
lost  600  men,  twenty  per  cent,  of  their  troops  engaged. 

It  was  Burgoyne 's  intention  to  open  a  second  battle  the 
next  morning,  but  owing  to  a  heavy  fog  hovering  over  the 
hills  and  ravines  of  Old  Saratoga  until  late  in  the  day,  he 
gave  the  afternoon  to  his  men  to  rest,  and  for  the  care  of  the 
wounded  and  burial  of  the  dead.  At  that  period  packs  of 
wolves  roamed  throughout  the  Taconac  and  Catskill  Moun- 
tains, and  their  uncanny  howlings  about  the  mounds  of  the 
dead  disturbed  the  wounded  troopers'  sleep  in  both  the 
British  and  American  camps. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  cause  of  the  Americans  that  fog 
lowered  over  the  Hudson  on  the  morning  of  September  20th , 
as  Gates  was  short  of  lead.  Burgoyne  could  have  easily 
driven  Gates's  whole  army  ahead  of  him  like  unresisting 
sheep  down  the  Hudson  to  the  sea.  Kingsley  wrote  later 
that  "the  Americans'  victory  in  1777  was  due  more  to  the 
'strategy  of  Providence'  than  to  superior  generalship." 

A  message  from  General  Clinton  reached  Burgoyne, 
September  21st.  He  reported  that  he  had  cleared  the  log 
boom  and  mammoth  iron  chain  across  the  Hudson  and  had 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      359 

entered  Newburgh  Bay,  September  19th.  Burgoyne  be- 
lieved, therefore,  that  Gates  would  withdraw  a  part  of  his 
troops  to  repulse  Clinton's  advance.  He  delayed  his  second 
battle  and  built  the  Great  Redoubt  southwest  of  Freeman's 
well  on  September  226..  He  then  awaited  Clinton's  reinforce- 
ments. This  delay  gave  General  Schuyler  time  to  send  out 
orders  for  the  lead  weights  from  all  the  Albany  mansion  win- 
dows. These  were  converted  into  bullets,  which  were  shipped 
to  Fort  Neilson  on  Bemis  Heights  as  soon  as  moulded. 

Time  passed,  and  on  October  5th  Burgoyne  held  a  council 
of  war  and  reported  that  there  were  on  hand,  only  sixteen 
days'  rations  for  his  army.  General  Riedesel  advised  a 
retreat  to  Canada ;  General  Philip  remained  neutral ;  General 
Fraser  agreed  with  Burgoyne  that  retreat  was  impossible 
to  a  Briton. 

The  deep  blue  heavens  arched  serenely  above  the  autum- 
nal woodlands,  brilliant  in  their  gold  and  crimson  robes, 
when  on  October  7th  the  British  began  active  preparations 
to  invite  a  second  battle  with  the  Americans.  At  ten  o'clock 
Burgoyne,  accompanied  by  Fraser,  Riedesel,  and  Philip  and 
their  brigades  and  artillery  began  their  advance.  A  scouting 
party  of  Indians  and  Canadians  were  followed  by  three 
columns,  consisting  of  1500  of  England's  skilled  marksmen. 
When  they  arrived  at  a  position  overlooking  the  encampment 
of  the  Americans,  several  officers  climbed  to  the  roof  of  Asa 
Chatfield's  log  dwelling  and  with  their  field-glasses  gained 
a  full  view  of  Gates's  Camp. 

The  attack  that  the  Americans  planned  against  Burgoyne's 
army  on  October  7th,  proved  to  be  similar  to  the  plan 
of  attack  of  General  Stark  in  surrounding  Baum's  troops 
on  the  Walloomsac  battle-field.  General  Morgan  and  h:s 
Virginian  sharpshooters  were  ordered  to  make  a  wide  cir- 
cuit to  Burgoyne's  rear  right;  General  Poor  and  his  New 
York  and  New  Hampshire  troops  were  directed  to  make  a 


360  The  Hoosac  Valley 

circuit  through  the  forests  to  Burgoyne's  rear  left ;  and  Gen- 
erals Dearborn  and  Learned  with  their  brigades  of  riflemen 
were  ordered  to  march  against  Burgoyne's  centre  column. 
Upon  the  arrival  of  each  regiment  at  its  appointed  post,  at 
a  prearranged  signal  from  Morgan's  sharpshooters,  a  simul- 
taneous volley  of  bullets  broke  upon  the  British  rear,  right, 
and  left  flanks.  The  centre  troops  charged  Burgoyne's  front 
ranks  and  broke  through  his  column.  This  resulted  in  a 
hand  to  hand  struggle,  which  consumed  half  of  the  first 
hour  of  fighting. 

The  deadly  aim  of  Morgan's  sharpshooters  caused  the 
Earl  of  Balcarres's  regiment  on  Burgoyne's  western  flank  to 
retreat.  Major  Williams  was  captured  and  the  Americans 
seized  his  12-pounder  gun.  Major  Ackland  was  seriously 
wounded  in  both  legs,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  incapacitated 
precipitated  a  panic  among  his  Grenadiers.  At  that  moment 
Colonel  Cilly  leaped  upon  the  British  cannon  and  fired  it 
against  the  fleeing  Britons  and  Germans.  General  Morgan 
soon  observed  General  Fraser  advancing,  and  like  a  tornado 
he  forced  the  western  ridge  with  his  Virginians  and  displaced 
Fraser' s  brigade  of  marksmen. 

Meanwhile  Gates  had  humbled  Arnold  by  relieving  him 
of  his  command.  Arnold  begged  permission  to  serve  as  a 
volunteer  soldier  but  was  refused.  At  last  he  dared  Gates 
to  follow  him  as  he  dashed  out  of  Fort  Neilson.  He  leaped 
upon  his  bay  charger,  put  the  spurs  to  his  steed,  and  was  soon 
among  the  American  patriots. 

Once  upon  the  field  of  action,  Arnold  forgot  that  he  was  no 
longer  a  commanding  general  as  did  the  soldiers.  At  that 
moment  Fraser' s  brigade  rushed  forward  to  relieve  the  Hes- 
sians, and  Morgan  rallied  his  sharpshooters  forward  to  rescue 
Arnold's  men.  Fraser,  mounted  on  his  noble  gray  charger, 
was  soon  observed  urging  his  men  forward,  when  both 
Arnold  and  Morgan  decided  that  he  must  fall.     Morgan, 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      36  e 

addressing  the  sharpshooter,  Timothy  Murphy,  and  pointing 
out  General  Fraser,  said:  "It  is  necessary  for  our  cause  that 
he  should  die.  Take  your  station  in  that  cluster  of  trees 
and  do  your  duty." 

General  Fraser  was  mortally  wounded  and  was  borne 
from  the  field  of  action  to  the  John  Taylor  House  three  miles 
east,  near  the  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  General  Burgoyne 
took  command  of  his  brigade.  At  that  critical  moment 
General  Ten  Broeck  of  Albany  arrived  upon  the  battle-field 
with  three  thousand  fresh  troops,  including  Col.  Johannes 
Knickerbacker's  14th  New  York  Regiment  from  Dutch 
Hoosac.  They  shouted  exultantly  at  the  Britons  and  Ger- 
mans, who,  struck  with  panic,  fled  to  their  redoubts. 

General  Arnold,  beholding  the  enemy  fleeing  to  their 
earthworks,  galloped  the  whole  length  of  the  American  line, 
and  urged  the  Patriots  forward  to  attack  Burgoyne' s 
troopers  before  they  had  time  to  gain  vantage  ground.  In 
the  attack  Arnold's  horse  fell  beneath  him  and  he  was 
wounded  in  his  injured  ankle.  He  was  soon  rescued  by 
Major  Armstrong,  however,  and  removed  to  Fort  Neilson 
to  face  General  Gates's  frowning  visage.  Colonel  Specht  of 
Balcarres's  regiment  endeavored  to  recover  Colonel  Brey- 
man's  lost  position.  He  was  headed  as  he  believed  by  a 
Loyalist,  but  he  and  four  officers  and  fifty  men  were  made 
prisoners  by  the  traitor.  Owing  to  the  approach  of  dark- 
ness fighting  ceased.  Had  it  not,  General  Burgoyne's  whole 
army  would  have  been  chased  from  their  earth  burrows,  and 
General  Ten  Broeck' s  Albany  Regiment  would  have  won 
a  greater  fame  than  that  of  merely  shouting  after  the  Ameri- 
cans' victory  had  already  been  won. 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
including  killed  and  wounded.  Arnold  was  the  only 
wounded  officer.  The  British  lost  seven  hundred  killed  and 
wounded.     Generals  Fraser  and  Francis  Clarke  and  Colonel 


362  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Breyman  were  mortally  wounded;  and  Colonel  Specht,  Majors 
Williams  and  Ackland  were  captured.  The  latter  was  pain- 
fully wounded  in  both  legs,  while  General  Burgoyne,  unlike 
General  Gates,  fought  with  his  men  through  the  hottest 
battles  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  but  escaped  without  a 
scratch. 

General  Fraser  died  the  following  morning  and  his  burial 
took  place  at  sunset  on  the  summit  of  the  Great  Redoubt. 
Burgoyne  abandoned  his  four  hundred  wounded  soldiers  in 
their  rude  hospital  to  the  mercy  of  the  Americans  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  began  his  retreat,  during  a  pouring 
rain,  to  Dovegat  House.  General  Gates,  during  the  early 
morning,  posted  General  Fellows  and  thirteen  hundred  men 
on  the  Heights  of  Saratoga  to  guard  against  the  retreat  of 
the  British  to  Lake  George  and  Canada.  The  mad  General 
Burgoyne  proved  to  be  too  weak  in  character,  according  to 
the  Brunswick  Journal  of  England,  "to  resist  his  orgies" 
and  make  his  escape  northward.  On  October  9th,  in  spite 
of  General  Riedesel's  advice,  he  halted  at  Schuyler's  Mansion 
and  celebrated  his  defeat  with  a  feast  over  sparkling  glasses, 
while  his  soldiers  were  forced  to  sleep  under  trees  in  the 
pouring  rain,  protected  only  by  their  oilcloth  blankets.  This 
resulted  in  the  British  army  being  entrapped  on  the  Heights 
of  Saratoga  until  Burgoyne  was  starved  into  surrender. 

The  Americans'  plan  of  surrounding  the  British  camp 
placed  Morgan's  Virginian  sharpshooters,  Learned' s  bri- 
gade, and  the  Pennsylvania  troops  west  of  the  present  site  of 
the  Battle  Monument ;  the  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts, 
and  Connecticut  regiments  east  of  the  Hudson;  the  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  other  New  England  regiments  south 
of  Fish  Creek.  General  Stark's  New  Hampshire,  Berkshire, 
and  Bennington  veterans,  during  the  evening  of  October 
1 2th,  encamped  in  the  Fort  Edward  Pass  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  north  of  the  Heights  of  Saratoga,  and  closed 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      363 

the  trail  during  the  critical  hour  Burgoyne  had  made  his 
final  plans  to  escape  to  Canada. 

On  October  13th,  the  Americans  were  thus  enabled  to 
make  a  circuit  of  the  British  encampment.  Their  batteries 
kept  up  a  constant  fire  upon  the  quarters  of  Burgoyne' s 
officers,  and  were  hoarsely  answered  by  the  heavy  British 
artillery  during  the  siege.  On  the  morning  of  October  13th 
Burgoyne  held  a  council  of  war  with  his  officers  and  deliber- 
ated upon  capitulation.  At  that  critical  moment  an  Ameri- 
can cannon  ball  rolled  across  the  table  at  which  Burgoyne 
sat,  and  this  speedily  brought  him  to  a  decision.  A  truce 
was  sent  to  General  Gates,  requesting  him  to  receive  a  field- 
officer  on  matters  of  high  moment  to  both  armies.  Gates 
appointed  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  for  the 
interview. 

News  of  General  Clinton's  advance  forty  miles  below 
Albany  led  Gates  to  sign  Burgoyne's  own  terms  of  surrender 
before  he  was  assured  of  Clinton's  reinforcements.  The 
articles  of  capitulation  were  signed  by  representatives  of  the 
British  and  American  commanders  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  October  15th,  at  a  tent  south  of  the  site  of  the  Old 
Horicon  Mill  at  Schuylerville.  On  the  morning  of  October 
1 6th,  Clinton's  scout  made  his  way  through  the  American 
lines  by  way  of  the  Tory  outpost  at  Fort  Schaghticoke,  and 
delivered  a  dispatch  at  the  British  encampment.  As  a 
result,  Burgoyne  delayed  signing  the  treaty  until  Gates's 
officers  drew  up  the  American  troops  in  battle  order  early 
October  1 7th,  and  invited  Burgoyne  to  sign  it  before  sunrise 
or  face  them  in  battle.  He  then  marched  down  the  Indian 
trail,  now  Burgoyne  Avenue  in  Schuylerville,  and  signed 
the  Articles  of  Convention1  beneath  an  elm  tree.  The  famous 
Treaty  Elm  remained  standing  until  about  1890,  when  it 
was  burned  down. 

^ev.  J.  H.  Brandow,  Story  of  Old  Saratoga,  pp.  152-155,  1900. 


364  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  British  and  German  prisoners  later  stacked  their 
arms  in  the  field  between  the  Treaty  Elm  and  the  Hudson 
River,  in  the  presence  of  Colonel  Wilkinson  and  Morgan 
Lewis.  Many  of  the  soldiers  bade  farewell  to  their  muskets 
with  tears;  others  threw  them  down  with  oaths;  and  the 
drummers  stamped  in  their  drum-heads. 

The  final  scene  of  the  formal  surrender  of  General  Bur- 
goyne  was  observed  by  a  small  lad  named  John  P.  Becker, 
who  subsequently  described  the  historical  event  under  the 
name  of  "Sexagenary."  By  a  prearranged  signal  the  British 
prisoners  halted  near  Gates's  tent ;  Burgoyne  drew  his  sword 
and  presented  it  to  Gates  in  full  view  of  both  the  American 
and  British  armies.  The  American  soldiers  were  lined  up 
on  either  side  of  the  Hudson  River  Road,  between  which 
marched  the  conquered  Britons  and  Germans. 

General  Gates  received  General  Burgoyne's  surrendered 
sword  with  due  ceremony  and  soon  returned  it  to  him  again. 
This  act  was  followed  by  an  American  escort  unfurling  the 
flag1  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  of  the  United  States,  to  which 
bowed  England's  battle-torn  flag.  It  was  saluted  by  the 
drum  corps  playing  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle.  The 
lyrical  poem,  set  to  this  tune,  described  the  motley  regiments 
of  New  Englanders,  during  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
known  as  the  Macedonian  Conquerors.  It  was  composed  by 
Dr.  Shackburg,  near  Fort  Crailo's  well,  in  Greenbush,  N.  Y., 
during  June,  1758,  while  General  Abercrombie  awaited  the 
arrival  of  the  bands  of  Yankee  volunteers  before  marching 
against  Montcalm's  French  and  Indians  on  Lake  Champlain. 

The  number  of  British  and  German  soldiers  surrendered 
by  Burgoyne  on  October  17,  1777,  amounted  to  5791,  includ- 

1  The  design  of  the  American  Flag  was  adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress 
June  14,  1777.  The  wives  of  the  American  officers  at  Albany  and  Saratoga 
took  their  red,  white,  and  blue  linsey  petticoats  and  hastily  made  the  Flag  of 
the  United  States  unfurled  at  Old  Saratoga  on  October  17,  1777. 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga       365 

ing  four  members  of  Parliament,  besides  1856  prisoners  and 
wounded.  The  burial  mounds  on  Bemis  Heights  contained 
1200  dead,  and  fifty  Hessians  and  innumerable  Canadians 
and  Indian  volunteers  deserted  Burgoyne's  ranks  even  before 
his  surrender. 

The  American  army  under  Gates  consisted  of  9,093  Con- 
tinentals and  16,000  volunteer  yeomanry,  making  a  total  of 
over  25,000  men,  besides  camp-followers  and  civilians  from 
all  parts  of  the  thirteen  United  States.  The  British  and 
American  armies  combined  thus  consisted  of  over  35,000  men, 
posted  between  Fish  Creek  and  the  junction  of  the  Hoosac 
and  Mohawk  with  the  Hudson. 

The  British  prisoners  destined  for  Boston,  marched  down 
to  Wilbur  Basin  and  encamped  for  the  night.  On  the 
following  morning  the  Germans  were  separated  from  the 
English.  The  latter  desired  to  march  up  the  Old  Cambridge 
Road  to  Bennington  Centre,  and  they  crossed  the  Americans' 
floating  bridge  opposite  Bemis  Tavern.  They  were  joined  by 
the  Hessian  prisoners  at  Bennington,  captured  by  General 
Stark  on  August  16th,  and  marched  over  the  Pownal  Centre 
Road  to  Williamstown,  and  joined  Burgoyne's  staff  at 
Henderson's  storehouse,  which  is  still  standing  in  Old  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass. 

Many  of  the  homesick  Germans  died  of  heart  failure. 
The  survivors  crossed  the  Van  Denburg  Ferry  to  the  east 
bank  of  the  Hudson  and  encamped  at  Fort  Schaghticoke. 
On  October  19th,  they  marched  up  the  Tomhannac  Road  to 
Claverack,  and  turned  eastward  over  the  Old  Military  Road 
and  joined  the  British  and  Burgoyne's  staff  at  Henderson's 
storehouse,  in  Old  Stockbridge,  Mass.  Many  Hessians  as 
well  as  Britons  escaped  from  the  home-ranks  on  their  march 
through  Hoosac  Valley.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned 
the  Welshman,  George  Rex  Davis  of  Dutch  Hoosac,  N.  Y. ; 
the  Englishmen,  Rich  and  Beverly;  and  the  Hessians,  John 


366  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Blake  and  Johann  Hintersass,  known  later  as  John  Hender- 
son in  Williamstown,  Mass.  The  Beverly  family  resided 
in  White  Oaks  and  Henderson  on  Henderson  Road  over  Oak 
Hill  in  Williamstown.  The  latter's  son,  George,  died  in 
i860,  leaving  many  descendants,  even  to-day  bearing  the 
distinct  Hessian  type. 

Meanwhile,  on  October  18th,  Burgoyne's  staff  first  visited 
Albany.  As  the  cavalcade  reached  Broadway,  a  witty  son 
of  Limerick,  elbowing  and  shouting,  came  upon  the  scene: 

Now,  shure  and  ye  '11  shtand  back  an*  giv'  Gineral  Ber- 
gine  plenthy  av  ilbow  room  right  here  in  Albany !  I  say,  ye 
darthy  ribels,  fall  back  an'  giv'  th'  great  Gineral  room  to  come 
along  here  in  Albany!  Och,  fer  hiven's  sake,  ye  cowardly 
shpalpeens,  do  ye  shtand  aside  to  th'  right  and  lift  and  make 
more  ilbow  room  fer  Gineral  Bergine  or,  by  Saint  Patrick, 
I  '11  murther  iv'ry  mother's  son  av  ye ! ! x 

The  British  officers  were  royally  entertained  at  Gen. 
Philip  Schuyler's  Mansion.  Philip  J.  the  nine-year-old  son 
of  General  Schuyler,  mischievously  opened  the  door  of 
General  Burgoyne's  chamber  on  the  morning  of  October 
19th  and  burst  out  laughing  upon  beholding  his  guards 
slumbering  upon  mattresses  placed  on  the  floor.  He  closed 
the  door  significantly,  exclaiming,  "Now  you  are  all  my 
prisoners !"  Thus  was  the  British  Commander  captured 
twice.  This  little  incident,  recorded  Marquis  De  Chastellux, 
served  only  to  remind  Burgoyne  of  his  misfortunes,  and 
although  humorous  to  a  degree,  it  greatly  depressed  him. 

It  was  not  known  in  1777  why  General  Howe  failed  to 
make  a  juncture  with  General  Burgoyne  at  Albany.  Lord 
Edmund  FitzMaurice  recently  unearthed  Lord  Shelburne's 
memorandum,  proving  that  Lord  George  Germaine,  during 
1777,  hastily  called  at  the  Colonial  Secretary's  Office  on  his 

1  Simm's  Frontiersmen  of  New  York,  II,  p.  132. 


Surrender  of  British  at  Old  Saratoga      367 

way  to  attend  a  fox  hunt  in  Kent;  he  signed  several  orders 
but,  upon  glancing  at  Howe's  Despatch,  he  refused  to  sign  it 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  "fair  copied."  The  order  thus 
got  "pigeon-holed,"  Providentially  for  the  American  Cause; 
and  Lord  Germaine  thought  of  it  no  more. 

Sir  Edward  Shepherd  Creasy  said  of  the  Victory  of  Old 
Saratoga:  " Nor  can  any  military  event  be  said  to  have  exer- 
cised more  important  influence  on  the  future  fortunes  of 
mankind  than  the  complete  defeat  of  Burgoyne's  expedi- 
tion," on  October  17,  1777. 

The  corner-stone  of  Saratoga  Battle  Monument  was  laid 
at  the  Centennial  celebration  on  October  17,  1877. 

Then  let  yon  granite  shaft  of  grace 

Forever  be  a  rallying  place 

For  liberty  and  honor,  till  the  day 

The  stone  is  dust,  the  river  dried  away.1 

'C.  H.  Crandall. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

ETHAN  ALLEN  AND  THE  ALLEN  FAMILY 

Of  the  Green  Mountains  one  might  probably  say:  they  are  more  generally  admired 
than  visited.  .  .  .  Poets  sing  without  seeing  them.  .  .  .  That  they  stimulate 
the  virtues  of  the  patriot  is  one  of  those  axioms  which  one  meets  over  and  over  again 
in  the  pages  of  writers  who  have  never  felt  their  rugged  breezes. — Paraphrase  from 
De  Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  Laws. 

The  Allen  Family — Ethan  Allen — Education,  Religion,  Marriage — Captivity 
in  England — Oracles  of  Reason — Anecdotes — Ira  Allen — Death  of  Seth 
Warner — Death  of  Ethan  Allen — Death  of  Ira  Allen — Heroic  Monuments. 

f  OVE  of  liberty  was  Ethan  Allen's1  sincere  passion  as  it 
V-  was  of  his  youngest  brother,  Ira  Allen.  The  Allen 
family  of  New  England  descended  from  Matthew,  Samuel, 
Thomas,  and  John  Allen,  sons  of  Samuel  Allen,  Esq.,  of 
Chelmsford,  Essex  County,  who  was  a  descendant  of  Sir 
Thomas  Allen,  Bart.,  of  Thaxsted  Grange,  Braintree,  Eng- 
land. They  claimed  kinship  with  the  ancient  crusader,  Allain, 
commander  of  the  rear  guard  under  William  the  Conqueror, 
during  the  decisive  Battle  of  Hastings,  in  1066.  The  Allen 
crest  represents  a  demi-lion  azure,  holding  in  his  two  paws 
the  rudder  of  a  vessel  bearing  the  motto,  For  titer  gerit 
Crucem. 

"Fighting  Parson"  Thomas  Allen,  first  minister  of  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  descended  from  Matthew  Allen;  and  Col.  Ethan 
Allen  descended  from  Samuel  Allen,  the  grandson  of  the 
original  Samuel  Allen,  who  located  at  Old  Deerfield,  Mass. 
His  son  Joseph,  born  in  1708,  moved  to  Old  Litchfield,  Conn., 
and  it  is  recorded  that  Joseph  and  his  widowed  mother, 

1  See  illustration,  Chapter  xv. 

368 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        369 

Mercy  Allen,  resided  in  Litchfield  in  1728.  On  March  n, 
1736,  Joseph  Allen,  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  married 
Mary  Baker  of  Woodbury,  Conn.,  sister  of  Elisha  Baker, 
who  settled  near  Baker  Bridge  in  Williamstown,  Mass.,  and 


The  Joseph  Allen  House,  Old  Litchfield  Hill,  Connecticut.     The  birthplace 

of  Ethan  Allen,  the  Hero  of  Ticonderoga,  who  was  born  in  the  room 

on  the  left  side  of  the  front  door,  January  10,  1737. 

of  Remember  Baker,  the  father  of  Capt.  Remember  Baker, 
who  located  in  the  Walloomsac  Valley  in  1765. 

At  Joseph  Allen's  homestead  in  Litchfield,  "Ethan  Allen, 
Ye  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  his  wife,  was  born  on  January 
Ye  10th  1737."  The  house  remains  unchanged  and  is 
owned  by  the  Aylward  family.  The  "Daughters  of  the 
Revolution"  have  erected  a  tablet  on  the  house,  marking  the 
birthplace  of  the  "Hero  of  Ticonderoga."  About  1740, 
Joseph  Allen  moved  to  Cornwall,  Conn.,  where  he  died  in 
1755.     He  left  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  Ethan,  Heman, 

Heber,  Levi,  Zimri,  Ira,  Lydia,  and  Lucy. 

24  _  .    . 


37°  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  educational  opportunities  of  Ethan  Allen  consisted  of 
three  months'  instruction  under  Parson  Lee  of  Salisbury, 
Conn.  In  1840  the  venerable  Jehial  Johns  of  Huntington, 
Conn.,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  informed  historian 
Zadoc  Thompson  of  Vermont,  that  young  Ethan  Allen 
boarded  at  a  Mrs.  Wadham's  about  1759  while  preparing  for 
college.  At  that  time,  he  was  greatly  influenced  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Young  of  the  Oblong  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y., 
who  lectured  against  Jonathan  Edward's  System  of  Divine 
Revelation.  Dr.  Young  was  prosecuted,  convicted,  and 
punished  for  blasphemy.  Between  1760  and  1766,  both 
Dr.  Young  and  Ethan  Allen  began  a  theological  work  entitled 
The  Oracle  of  Reason,  contending  against  the  necessity  of 
Divine  Revelation.  They  agreed  that  whichever  one  of 
them  outlived  the  other  should  publish  the  work. 

On  June  23,  1762,  Ethan  Allen,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years,  married  Mary  Brownson,  a  granddaughter  of  Richard 
Brownson  of  Framingham,  Conn.  The  ceremony  was  per- 
formed by  Parson  Daniel  Brinsmade  of  the  Judea  Church 
of  Woodbury,  and  Allen  paid  the  usual  fee  of  four  shillings 
for  the  tying  of  the  knot.  The  Brownson  family  never  sanc- 
tioned their  daughter's  marriage  with  Ethan  Allen,  owing 
to  his  irreligious  views.  Four  years  after  his  marriage  in 
1766,  he  was  called  to  Bennington  to  defend  the  Green 
Mountain  settlers'  rights  in  the  Albany  Court  of  Ejectment. 
He  left  his  family  with  his  sister,  Lucy  Bebee,  at  Sheffield, 
and  before  his  capture  by  the  British  in  the  autumn  of  1775, 
both  he  and  Ira  Allen  built  homes  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Batten  Kill  in  Sunderland,  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants. 

During  the  perilous  year  of  1777,  after  her  son  Joseph's 
death,  Molly  Allen,  together  with  her  four  daughters, 
Lorraine,  Lucy,  Mary  Ann,  and  Parmelia,  and  accompanied 
by  her  brother,  Lieut.  Eli  Brownson,  located  at  Sunderland. 
Ethan  Allen  remained  in  an  English  prison  two  years  and 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        371 

eight  months  until  exchanged  for  Lieut.-Col.  John  Campbell, 
May  6,  1778.  Broken  in  health  but  not  in  spirit  he  arrived 
in  New  York  City  and  later  visited  General  Washington's 
headquarters  at  Valley  Forge.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
President  of  Congress,  Washington  said  of  Allen  "that 
his  fortitude  and  firmness  seem  to  have  placed  him  out  of 
the  reach  of  misfortune.  There  is  an  original  something 
about  him  that  commands  admiration,  and  his  long  captivity 
and  sufferings  have  only  served  to  increase,  if  possible,  his 
enthusiastic  zeal." 

Dr.  Thomas  Young  died  in  Philadelphia  during  the 
autumn  of  1777,  and  Ethan  Allen  visited  Mrs.  Young  in 
Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  on  his  way  to  Bennington,  Vt., 
and  procured  the  manuscript  of  their  theological  work.  On 
May  31,  1778,  as  the  long  shadows  of  Mount  Anthony  fell 
aslant  the  Walloomsac,  the  "Hero  of  Ticonderoga"  arrived 
at  the  "Catamount  Tavern"  on  Bennington  Hill.  Col. 
Samuel  Herrick's  Continental  Regiment  fired  three  cannon 
at  sunset  to  announce  Allen's  return  to  the  Bennington 
and  Berkshire  Boys. 

At  sunrise  on  the  following  morning  a  large  crowd  assem- 
bled on  the  Parade,  and  Colonel  Herrick  fired  off  fourteen 
guns — thirteen  for  the  original  United  States  and  the  four- 
teenth for  the  State  of  Vermont.  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins 
read  a  poem  of  welcome  for  the  returned  captive,  Ethan 
Allen,  and  it  was  a  day  famous  in  Vermont's  history. 

See  him  on  green  hills  north  afar, 
Glow  like  some  self-enkindled  star. 

Behold  him  move,  ye  staunch  divines, 
His  tall  brow  bristling  through  the  pines, 
Like  some  old  sachem  from  his  den 
He  treads  once  more  the  haunts  of  men.1 
1  Dr.  Smith,  Collection  of  American  Poetry,  Litchfield,  Ct.,  1794. 


372  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Congress  later  conferred  the  rank  and  emolument  of 
lieutenant-colonel  upon  Allen.  He  represented  the  town 
of  Arlington  for  three  years,  and  during  July,  1782,  he  com- 
pleted the  revisions  of  Dr.  Thomas  Young's  and  his  own 
manuscript  on  theology,  entitled :  Reason,  the  Only  Oracle  of 
Man,  or  A  Compendious  System  of  Natural  Religion.  It 
was  published  by  Anthony  Haswell  and  Nathaniel  Russell, 
editor  and  printer  of  the  Vermont  Gazette,  in  the  Haswell 
Building,  located  on  the  site  of  the  present  Battle  Monu- 
ment. 

Most  of  the  first  edition  remained  in  proof-sheets  when 
the  building  burned.  Editor  Haswell  regarded  this  as  an  in- 
terposition of  Divine  Providence  to  prevent  the  circulation 
of  a  book  advocating  irreligion.  The  book  was  known  to  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys  as  Ethan  Allen's  Bible,  but  the  author 
referred  to  it  as  The  Oracle  of  Reason.  Both  Dr.  Young  and 
Ethan  Allen  believed  in  Jehovah,  the  Supreme  Creator  and 
Governor  of  the  Universe,  and  in  the  reward  or  punishment 
during  the  future  state  of  immortal  man.  Allen  sent  a  copy 
to  the  Hon.  St.  Johns  of  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Science 
in  Paris,  by  whose  sentence  he  expected  to  stand  or  fall. 
This  work  was  followed  in  1793  by  Thomas  Paine's  Age  of 
Reason  during  the  French  Revolution,  which  did  much  to 
arouse  the  Hoosactonians  against  slavery. 

Molly  Allen,  the  wife  of  Ethan  Allen,  died  during  July, 
1783,  and  according  to  the  venerable  Dr.  Ebenezer  Hitch- 
cock, was  buried  in  the  Congregational  churchyard  of 
Arlington,  three  miles  from  their  Sunderland  home.  A 
little  later  Lorraine,  her  eldest  daughter,  died  and  was 
buried  in  the  Sunderland  burial-field,  south  of  the  site  of 
the  Allen  cottage  on  the  bank  of  the  Batten  Kill.  She 
inherited  her  father's  skepticism  and  before  her  death 
asked  him:  "Whose  faith  shall  I  embrace,  yours  or  that  of 
my  mother?" 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        373 

"Not,  not  in  mine,"  with  choking  voice, 

The  skeptic  made  reply — 
"But  in  thy  mother's  holy  faith, 

My  daughter,  may'st  thou  die."1 

Allen's  daughter,  Lucy,  married  the  Hon.  S.  Hitchcock; 
Parmelia  married  Eleazer  W.  Keyes,  and  Mary  Ann  married 
Mr.  Forbes,  all  of  Burlington,  Vt. 

Ethan  Allen  despised  the  liar,  thief,  and  hypocrite.  He 
was  sued  once  upon  a  promissory  note  for  £60  and  he  engaged 
a  lawyer  to  procure  a  continuance.  The  attorney  denied 
Allen's  signature  as  the  quickest  method  of  obtaining  a  con- 
tinuance. Allen  pushed  his  way  through  the  crowd  and 
confronted  his  councillor  saying :  "  I  did  not  hire  you  to  come 
here  to  lie.  That  is  my  true  note;  I  signed  it;  I  '11  swear  to 
it;  and  I  '11  pay  it.  I  want  no  shuffling,  but  wish  time."  It 
was  speedily  granted  him  by  the  judge. 

During  1778,  Thomas  Chittenden  of  Arlington  was  elected 
Governor  of  Vermont ;  Joseph  Marsh,  Lieutenant-Governor ; 
Ira  Allen,  Treasurer  and  Surveyor-General,  and  Ethan  Allen, 
Major-General  of  the  State  Militia.  Ira  Allen  proved  to  be 
the  greatest  diplomatist  of  the  Revolutionary  period  and  the 
most  successful  business  manager  of  the  Allen  brothers. 
He  represented  the  Onion  River  Land  Company,  controlling 
the  settlement  of  eleven  townships  between  Ferrisburgh  and 
the  Canadian  borders,  covering  30,000  acres  of  Champlain 
Valley.  Levi  Allen  was  the  Tory  member  of  the  Allen 
brothers,  and  he  was  lodged  in  New  London  jail  and  adver- 
tised as  a  dangerous  Tory  in  the  Connecticut  Courant  by  his 
brother  Ethan,  he  believed.  He  was  set  at  liberty  after  six 
months  and  challenged  Ethan  Allen  to  fight  a  duel  with  pis- 
tols. Later  he  joined  the  British  army  in  South  Carolina 
until  the  close  of  hostilities  in  1783.     He  resided  in  Canada 

1  Anon.,  "The  Infidel  and  his  Daughter,"  1783,  reprinted  in  Vermont 
Historical  Gazetteer. 


374  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  England  for  seven  years  after  the  Revolution  and  was 
greatly  at  odds  with  the  world  at  large.  He  returned  to 
Burlington,  Vt.,  in  1790  and  refused  to  pay  taxes.  He  was 
lodged  in  jail  and  died  in  1802.  He  was  buried  in  the 
prison's  potter-field. 

Ethan  Allen  was  unconventional  to  the  extreme.  On  May 
27>  I779>  ne  appeared  at  the  Westminster  Court-House 
attired  in  military  uniform.  Noah  Smith  was  closing  an 
argument  in  which  he  cited  Blackstone  as  authority.  Col- 
onel Allen,  believing  that  Vermont's  State  attorney  mani- 
fested too  great  leniency  toward  the  prisoner,  arose  and 
addressed  the  jury,  stating  that  in  the  observations  that  he 
was  about  to  make  he  should  not  deal  in  quibbles.  "I 
would  have  that  young  gentleman  to  know  that  from  the 
eternal  fitness  of  things  I  can  upset  his  Blackstones,  his 
whitestones,  his  gravestones,  and  his  brimstones."  Chief 
Justice  Moses  Robinson  of  Bennington  arose  at  this  junc- 
ture and  informed  Allen  that  it  was  not  allowable  for  him  to 
appear  in  court  with  his  sword  by  his  side.  This  interrup- 
tion nettled  Allen.  He  unslung  his  weapon  and  brought  it 
down  on  the  table  with  a  force  that  made  the  house  ring, 
and  exclaimed: 

For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest, 
Whate'er  is  best  administered  is  best. 

Observing  the  judges  whispering,  he  added:  "I  said  that 
fools  might  contest  for  forms  of  government — not  your 
Honors,  not  your  Honors." 

During  1780,  a  letter  was  handed  mysteriously  to  Ethan 
Allen  in  Arlington,  Vt.,  by  the  notorious  Beverly  Robinson, 
for  treasonable  purposes.  At  that  time  it  was  known  to  the 
British  that  Congress  refused  to  recognize  Vermont's  Inde- 
pendence or  admittance  to  the  Federal  Union.  Beverly 
Robinson's  letter,  therefore,  proposed  negotiations  with  the 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        375 

commander  of  the  British  army  for  the  purchase  of  the 
"Green  Mountain  Republic."  Ira  Allen  was  sent  to  hold 
a  conference  with  the  Crown's  officers,  then  encamped  on 
lower  Lake  Champlain,  and  after  seventeen  days  he  won  a 
verbal  armistice.  The  British  commander  agreed  upon  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  of  his  army  of  10,000  troops  within 
the  borders  of  the  Republic  of  Vermont. 

Ira  Allen's  military  strategy,  founded  as  it  was  upon 
treasonable  grounds,  therefore  crippled  the  British  army 
in  the  North  and  led  to  General  Washington's  victory 
over  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  Va.,  in  the  South,  October 
19,  1 78 1,  and  the  subsequent  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
in  September,  1783. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Col.  Seth  War- 
ner passed  into  a  physical  decline  and  returned  to  Irish 
Corners,  now  Riverside,  in  Bennington,  and  later  removed 
to  Woodbury,  Conn.,  where  he  died  on  December  26,  1784. 
Warner's  military  skill  ranks  superior  to  that  of  Ethan  Allen, 
although  the  latter,  owing  to  that  "original  something," 
as  Washington  put  it,  won  a  more  permanent  place  in  the 
hearts  of  hero  worshippers  than  any  other  Patriot  during 
the  Revolutionary  period.  The  State  of  Connecticut 
erected  near  Col.  Seth  Warner's  grave,  an  heroic  monument 
twenty-one  feet  in  height,  with  appropriate  tablets,  and 
Capt.  John  Chipman,  the  famous  scout,  wrote  an  account 
of  his  life. 

Little  is  recorded  of  Col.  Samuel  Herrick,  commander 
of  the  regiment  of  Vermont  Rangers.  After  the  Revolution 
he  moved  from  Bennington  to  Springfield,  New  York. 

Col.  Ethan  Allen's  marriage  to  Mrs.  Fanny  Buchanan,  a 
daughter  of  the  noted  Tory,  Creon  Brush  of  Westminster, 
took  place  on  February  21, 1 784.  During  the  spring  of  1 787  he 
located  on  the  Cornelius  Van  Ness  farm  in  Burlington,  Vt. 
They  had  two  sons,  Ethan  A.  and  Hannibal  Allen,  and  one 


376  The  Hoosac  Valley 

daughter,  Frances  Allen.  Colonel  Allen,  however,  after 
visiting  his  cousin,  Col.  Ebenezer  Allen  on  South  Hero 
Island,  in  Lake  Champlain,  February  12,  1789,  was  stricken 
with  apoplexy  and  died.  The  Hero  of  Ticonderoga  was 
buried,  February  18th,  with  military  honors,  by  his  vet- 
eran Green  Mountain  Boys,  in  Green  Mount  Cemetery. 

Ethan  Allen's  Burlington  cottage  is  slightly  altered  to-day, 
and  a  boulder  on  his  farm,  near  the  spot  where  he  died,  bears 
a  bronze  tablet  placed  there  by  the  Daughters  of  the  Revo- 
lution. His  sons,  Ethan  A.  Allen  and  Hannibal  Allen, 
subsequently  became  distinguished  officers  in  the  United 
States  Army  and  resided  in  Norfolk  County,  Virginia  until 
their  death;  and  his  daughter,  Frances  Allen,  entered  the 
Roman  Catholic  Convent,  at  Montreal,  Canada.  Her  life 
and  conversion  are  described  by  the  Rev.  M.  Faillon  in  a 
book  entitled,  Vie  de  Mille  Mance;  also  by  A'Becet  in  the 
first  volume  of  Appleton's  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  issued  in 
1907.  She  was  the  first  American  woman  to  take  the 
veil. 

The  late  Ethan  A.  Allen,  a  great  grandson  of  Col.  Ethan 
Allen,  was  the  author  of  Drama  of  the  Revolution  in  blank 
verse.     He  died  in  1909. 

Ira  Allen,  the  youngest  brother  of  Ethan  Allen,  did  more 
to  advance  the  civil  government  and  settlement  of  the 
Green  Mountain  Republic  for  the  fifteen  years  previous  to 
the  State's  admittance  to  the  Federal  Union  in  1791,  than 
did  any  other  man  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  President 
Washington  and  Congressman  William  Smith  on  August  30, 
1790,  visited  Gov.  Moses  Robinson  and  Isaac  Tichenor  at 
Bennington  Centre,  in  order  to  hasten  Vermont's  admit- 
tance to  the  Union.  At  that  time  Washington  was  aware 
of  the  influence  of  Ethan  and  Ira  Allen's  diplomacy  in 
bringing  about  the  cessation  of  hostilities  of  the  British 
on  the  Vermont-Canadian  borders.      On  January  6,   1791, 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        377 


following  Washington's  Bennington  visit,  the  vote  of 
Vermont's  officers  proved  to  be  105  yeas  to  3  nays  for  a 
final  application 
for  the  State's  ad- 
mittance to  the 
Union.  Four  days 
later,  the  Assem- 
bly met  at  Ben- 
nington Centre, 
and  on  January 
18th  the  Hon. 
Nathaniel  C  h  i  p- 
man  and  Lewis  R. 
Morris,  Esq.,  were 
appointed  commis- 
sioners to  negotiate 
with  Congress  for 
the  admission  of  the 
State  to  the  Union. 
On  February  18th, 
Congress  passed 
an  Act  by  which 
on  March  4th, 
"the  said  State, 
by  the  name  and 
style  of  the  State 
of  Vermont,  shall 
be  received  into 
this  Union  as  a  new 
and  entire  member 
of  the  United  States 


Ira  Allen  of  Bennington  and  Burlington,  Ver- 
mont, the  famous  Secretary  of  the  Vermont  Council 
of  Safety  during  the  Revolution  before  the  Battle  of 
Bennington.  The  leading  Diplomatist  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Republic,  Major-General  of  Vermont's 
Militia  and  Founder  of  the  University  of  Vermont 
at  Burlington.  He  died  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
was  buried  in  the  Friends1  Free  Quaker  Burial- 
ground,  January  15,  18 14.  His  grave  is  unknown 
and  unmarked. 


of  America." 

During  1791,  after  Col.  Ethan  Allen's  death,  Ira  Allen 
was  chosen  Major-General  of  Vermont's  militia.     On  Octo- 


378  The  Hoosac  Valley 

ber  19,  1793,  he  presented  the  land  upon  which  the  University 
of  Vermont  now  stands,  in  Burlington,  and  endowed  it  with 
£4000.  The  building  was  occupied  as  a  military  station 
during  the  War  of  18 12.  The  corner-stone  of  the  present 
building  was  laid  by  General  La  Fayette,  in  1825. 

Governor  Chittenden  sent  Maj.-Gen.  Ira  Allen  to  England 
in  December,  1793,  to  purchase  State  Arms.  As  Treasurer 
of  Vermont,  Ira  Allen  mortgaged  45,000  acres  of  his  estate 
in  Champlain  Valley  to  Gen.  William  Hull  of  Watertown, 
Mass.,  in  order  to  loan  the  State  the  sum  to  buy  the  necessary 
artillery.  The  French  Revolution  was  raging  at  the  time 
he  arrived  in  London,  and  it  proved  to  be  an  inopportune 
time  for  Vermont's  officials  to  negotiate  for  artillery  or  for 
Ira  Allen's  proposed  scheme  of  building  the  Champlain  and 
St.  Lawrence  Canal.  In  May,  1796,  he  visited  Paris  and 
purchased  $120,000  worth  of  muskets,  bayonets,  and  twenty- 
four  cannon.  This  cargo  was  loaded  on  the  ship,  Olive 
Branch,  from  Ostend,  bound  for  New  York. 

Off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  however,  the  Olive  Branch  was  seized 
by  a  British  cruiser.  The  ship  was  considered  the  lawful 
prize  of  the  captors  by  the  Court  of  Admiralty,  although  the 
cargo  was  proved  to  be  neutral  arms  bound  for  a  neutral 
port.  Ira  Allen,  through  his  attorney,  Lord  Erskine,  laid 
the  case  before  the  King's  Bench.  Three  years  later  he  was 
compelled  to  visit  Paris  to  procure  evidence.  Through  con- 
spiracy he  was  arrested  for  want  of  proper  passport  and 
lodged  in  a  French  prison  for  six  months,  where  he  became 
dangerously  ill.  He  did  not  return  to  England  until  Octo- 
ber, 1800.  In  1804,  eight  years  after  the  seizure  of  Vermont's 
military  arms,  Ira  Allen  won  his  case  and  recovered  the 
then  valueless  cargo  of  the  Olive  Branch. 

Meanwhile,  during  those  eight  years,  Ira  Allen's  vast 
estate  in  Vermont  had  been  plundered  and  sold  for  taxes, 
and  his  good  name  defamed  by  those  whom  he  had  served. 


Ethan  Allen  and  the  Allen  Family        379 

Upon  his  return  he  was  ejected  from  his  home  by  the  land- 
pirates  and  he  fled  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  he  died  in  the 
almshouse,  January  15,  18 14,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 
Francis  Olcott  Allen  discovered  a  certificate  of  the  burial  of 
Maj.-Gen.  Ira  Allen  among  the  records  of  the  Board  of 
Health  in  Philadelphia  a  few  years  ago,  proving  that  one 
of  the  greatest  diplomatists  of  the  Revolution  was  in- 
terred in  the  Free  Quaker  Burial-ground.  His  grave,  how- 
ever, is  unknown  and  unmarked  to-day  by  appropriate 
monument. 

Ira  Allen  was  the  author,  also,  of  State  Papers,  including 
Miscellaneous  Remarks  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  State  of  New 
York  against  the  State  of  Vermont.  His  Natural  and  Politi- 
cal History  of  the  State  of  Vermont  was  published  while  he 
resided  in  London  in  1798.  He  once  said  to  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys:  "As  I  view  it,  we  are  probationers  to  act 
not  only  for  ourselves  but  for  posterity,  even  as  in  some  de- 
gree it  was  with  Adam  in  his  original  purity.  Each  man  is 
accountable  to  his  Creator  for  the  part  he  now  takes,  for 
on  the  conduct  of  the  present  age  depends  the  liberties  of 
millions  yet  unborn." 

The  first  heroic  statue  erected  in  the  Green  Mountain 
State  was  that  of  Ethan  Allen,  by  the  sculptor  Kinney  of 
Burlington,  unveiled  in  the  State  Capitol  at  Montpelier  in 
1852.  In  November,  1855,  the  Legislature  passed  an  Act  to 
erect  a  statue  of  Ethan  Allen,  to  mark  his  tomb  in  Green 
Mount  Cemetery,  overlooking  Winooski's  Falls.  The  statue 
sculptured  by  the  Boston  sculptor,  Stephenson,  represents 
the  hero  in  the  act  of  demanding  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga. 

A  monumental  group  of  Ira  Allen  together  with  Dr.  Jonas 
Fay  and  Dr.  Thomas  Young,  the  framers  of  Vermont's 
Declaration  of  Independence,  together  with  statues  of  Ethan 
Allen,  Seth  Warner,  Samuel  Herrick,  and  Remember  Baker 


380  The  Hoosac  Valley 

should  be  placed  on  the  brow  of  Mount  Anthony  when  it 
becomes  a  State  Park  Reservation. 

Their  memory  then  should  ever  be 
Dear  to  our  hearts  as  liberty ; 
And  while  our  country  has  a  name 
Let  us  preserve  our  Allen's  fame. 


CHAPTER  XX 

FREE   SCHOOL    OF    WILLIAMSTOWN    AND    WILLIAMS    COLLEGE 

I 785-I912 

It  were  as  well  to  be  educated  in  the  shadow  of  a  mountain  as  in  more  classical 
shades.  Some  will  remember,  no  doubt,  not  only  that  they  went  to  the  college,  but 
that  they  went  to  the  mountain. — Thoreau,  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimac 
Rivers. 

Free  School  of  Williamstown,  1790 — Williams  College,  1793 — Pres.  Ebenezer 
Fitch,  1 793-181 5 — Amos  Eaton,  Henry  Dwight  Sedgwick,  and  Robert 
Sedgwick — Chester  Dewey — Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr. — William  Cullen 
Bryant — Pres.  Zephaniah  Swift  Moore,  181 5-182 1 — Williams  College 
Removal  Case — Pres.  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  1 821-1836 — Girls'  Depart- 
ment— Mark  Hopkins — David  Dudley  Field — Albert  Hopkins — Pres. 
Mark  Hopkins,  1 836-1 872 — Astronomical  and  Meteorological  Observa- 
tories— Garden,  Chip,  Mountain,  and  Gravel  Days — Natural  History 
Expeditions — William  Dwight  Whitney — John  Bascom — James  Abram 
Garfield — Bryant  and  the  Alumni  Association,  1863 — Pres.  Paul  Ansel 
Chadbourne,  1872-1881 — Pres.  Franklin  Carter,  1881-1901 — Centennial 
of  Williams  College,  1893 — Pres.  Henry  Hopkins,  1902-1909 — Pres.  Harry 
Augustus  Garfield,  1909. 

THE  white-steepled  village  of  Williamstown  was  con- 
sidered "like  a  day-dream  to  look  at"  by  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne  in  July,  1838,  and  he  thought  the  students  ought 
to  be  "day-dreamers,"  all  of  them.  Thirty  years  later  the 
Scotchman,  President  James  McCosh  of  Princeton,  thought 
of  the  classical  hills  of  Williams,  surrounded  by  imposing 
mountains,  as  a  place  at  which  the  Last  Judgment  might  be 
held,  with  the  universe  assembled  on  the  encircling  slopes. 

The  early  history  of  Williamstown  turned  predominantly 
upon  a  clause  penned  in  Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  Will1  at 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  479-483. 

38i 


382  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Albany,  July  22,  1755,  for  the  founding  of  free  schools  in 
Williamstown  and  Adams  to  educate  the  children  of  the 
pioneer  founders  of  English  Hoosac  towns.  Thirty  years 
later  his  executors,  Col.  Israel  Williams  of  Hatfield  and  Col. 
John  Worthington  of  Springfield,  reported  a  fund  of  $9157 
to  the  General  Court  for  founding  the  donor's  Free  Schools 
according  to  his  Will  and  desires. 

A  legislative  act  passed  March  8,  1785,  created  a  corpora- 
tion known  as  "The  Trustees  of  the  Donation  of  Ephraim 
Williams,  Esq.,  for  maintaining  a  Free  School  in  Williams- 
town."  Nine  Trustees  were  appointed,  including  the  Rev. 
Seth  Swift,  Judge  David  Noble,  and  Thompson  Joseph 
Skinner  of  Williamstown;  Esquire  Israel  Jones  of  Adams; 
the  Rev.  Daniel  Collins  of  Lanesboro;  Deacon  William 
Williams  of  Dalton,  son  of  Col.  Israel  Williams;  the  Rev. 
Woodbridge  Little  of  Pittsfield;  Judge  Theodore  Sedgwick 
of  Sheffield  and  Judge  John  Bacon  of  Stockbridge,  a  former 
pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church  of  Boston.  Deacon  William 
Williams  was  later  chosen  president  and  the  Rev.  Seth 
Swift,  treasurer;  Esquire  Israel  Jones  and  Thompson  Joseph 
Skinner  were  appointed  a  committee  of  finances. 

A  year  later,  the  inhabitants  of  Adams  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  showing  that  Ephraim 
Williams's  Will  and  desire  "for  the  benefit  of  the  East  Town," 
now  Adams  and  North  Adams,  had  been  set  aside.  That 
procedure  delayed  the  building  of  the  Free  School  of  Wil- 
liamstown. On  August  19,  1788,  the  Trustees  met  at  land- 
lord Samuel  Kellogg's  Mansion  House  in  Williamstown  and 
voted  to  build  the  Free  School  building  of  brick.  The  com- 
mittee received  £500  of  the  bequest  to  begin  levelling  down 
the  site  of  West  College  and  to  purchase  the  rights  of  Capt. 
Lemuel  Stewart's  spring  beneath  the  Willows. 

A  lottery  ticket  advertisement  appeared  in  the  Massachu- 
setts Sentinel  of  Boston  on  May  22,  1790,  to  raise  money  to 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  383 

aid  in  completing  the  Free  School.  It  proved  only  a  method 
of  taxation  upon  the  Hoosac  Valley  folk  and  netted  the 
Trustees  about  $3500.  On  May  26th,  Col.  Benjamin 
Simonds  was  invited  to  join  the  building  committee,  and 
a  brick-kiln  was  opened  at  the  northern  base  of  Mansion 
House  Hill. 

The  dimensions  of  the  Free  School  building  were  82  x  42 
feet.  It  was  four  stories  high,  with  a  bevel  roof  surmounted 
with  a  tower.  The  walls  were  built  very  thick  and  the 
interior  finished  in  solid  white  oak.  The  chapel  occupied  the 
second  and  third  floors  on  the  south  end  of  the  building; 
and  the  thirty- two  dormitories,  the  front  of  the  second  and 
top  floor.  In  1793  Judge  David  Noble  presented  a  bell  for 
the  tower  which  was  to  announce  the  time  for  prayer  and  for 
recitations.  The  belfry  and  dormitories  were  not  changed 
when  the  building  was  remodelled  in  1854. 

The  Seal  of  the  Free  School  was  chosen  after  the  completion 
of  the  building  in  October,  1 790,  and  consisted  of  the  device 
of  a  tutor  surrounded  by  three  boy  pupils  and  the  legend: 
E.  Liberalitate  E.  Williams  Armigeri.  A  committee, 
including  President  William  Williams,  the  Rev.  Seth  Swift, 
and  Judge  John  Bacon,  was  appointed  to  engage  a  tutor 
at  £120  annually.  Ebenezer  Fitch  of  Yale,  a  gentleman 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  was  engaged.  He  arrived  at 
Williamstown  in  April,  1791,  and  Judge  David  Noble 
presented  an  acre  of  land  to  the  School  Trustees,  upon 
which  Tutor  Fitch's  house  was  built.  The  site  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Mark  Hopkins  Memorial  Hall. 

The  Free  School  was  opened,  October  20,  1791,  and  the 
first  free  class  consisted  of  sixty  pupils,  recruited  from  the 
higher  classes  of  the  district  schools  of  the  town.  The  pay 
class  under  Tutor  Fitch  consisted  of  sixty  young  gentlemen, 
who  paid  an  annual  tuition  fee  of  thirty-five  shillings  each. 

Tutor  Fitch  and  Councillor  Daniel  Dewey  on  May  22, 


384  The  Hoosac  Valley 

1792,  however,  presented  a  petition  to  the  Trustees,  showing 
that  Williamstown  was  "peculiarly  favorable  to  a  seminary 
of  a  more  public  and  important  nature.' '  They  expressed 
a  hope  of  "seeing  Massachusetts  the  Athens  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  to  which  young  gentlemen  from  all  parts 
of  the  Union  might  resort  for  instruction  in  all  branches  of 
useful  and  polite  literature."  They  further  suggested  that 
the  Free  School  of  Williamstown  be  incorporated  as  Williams 
Hall  by  the  Commonwealth. 

A  legislative  act  passed  on  August  6,  1793,  changed  the 
Free  School  corporation  to  that  of  "The  President  and  Trus- 
tees of  Williams  College,"1  only  thirteen  months  after  the 
opening  of  the  Free  School  of  Williamstown.  As  additional 
Trustees  to  the  original  nine  of  the  Free  School  were  elected : 
President  Ebenezer  Fitch,  the  Rev.  Stephen  West  of  Stock- 
bridge,  Col.  Elijah  Williams — half-brother  of  the  founder 
Ephraim  Williams,  of  Stockbridge — and  Henry  Van  Schaick 
of  Pittsfield.  In  1794,  were  elected:  the  Rev.  Job  Swift  of 
Bennington,  John  Bradstreet  Schuyler — the  son  of  Gen. 
Philip  Schuyler  of  Schuylerville,  N.  Y., — Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer  of  Rensselaerwyck — the  son-in-law  of  Gen.  Philip 
Schuyler — and  the  Rev.  Ammi  Ruhamah  Robbins  of  Nor- 
folk, Conn.;  making  seventeen  Williams  College  Trustees 
in  all.  John  Bradstreet  Schuyler  died  in  August,  1795,  and 
his  name,  therefore,  was  not  printed  in  the  General  Catalogue. 

Williams  College  was  first  advertised  in  the  Stockbridge 
newspaper  and  opened  in  October,  1793.  Samuel  Mackay 
from  Chambly,  Canada, — undoubtedly  a  descendant  of  the 
Williamstown  proprietor,  JEneas  Mackay  of  lot  62 — was 
engaged  as  Professor  of  French.  He  induced  several  Cana- 
dians to  attend  Williams.  The  first  class,  that  of  1795, 
included  only  four  graduates  from  Stockbridge,  and  their 

1  The  College  Seal  consisted  of  a  globe,  a  telescope,  pile  of  books,  sur- 
mounted by  an  inkstand  and  a  twig  of  ivy  or  laurel. 


25 


385 


386  The  Hoosac  Valley 

commencement  exercises  were  held  in  the  First  Church  on 
the  2d  of  September.  The  Trustees  published  a  catalogue 
containing  the  names  of  seventy  students,  forty  of  whom 
belonged  to  the  Free  Academy.  This  was  the  first  college 
catalogue  published  in  America.  At  the  same  time  the 
Adelphic  Union  was  founded,  comprising  the  Philologian  and 
Philotechnian  Societies,  for  debate,  oratory,  and  literature. 
The  Adelphic  Union  has  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the 
oldest  debating  societies  in  this  country. 

Meanwhile  the  attendance  at  the  students'  commence- 
ments had  so  increased  that  the  dark  old  meeting-house  was 
no  longer  adequate  and  President  Fitch  on  September  26, 
1796,  prepared  a  paper  and  obtained  sixty-five  Williamstown 
names,  together  with  twenty-four  names  of  non-residents,  who 
subscribed  over  $4500  toward  building  the  Second  Church «  on 
the  Square.  A  legislative  act  passed  on  February  4,  1797, 
also  appropriated  $10,000  toward  building  East  College,  to 
accommodate  the  increasing  numbers  of  students.  The  site 
was  chosen,  May  6,  1797,  on  Capt.  Isaac  Searles's  lot,  oppo- 
site the  old  lime-kiln,  now  the  site  of  Griffin  Hall.  Skinner 
Brothers  completed  East  College  and  the  new  church  simul- 
taneously during  the  autumn  of  1798.  Business  at  that  time 
centred  about  the  Square,  and  Esquire  William  Starkweather 
was  appointed  first  postmaster  between  January,  1798,  and 
July,  1805.  The  first  post-office  occupied  Starkweather's 
store  west  of  Skinner's  Mansion  House.  Ezekiel  Bacon, 
a  Yale  graduate  and  son  of  Judge  Bacon  of  Stockbridge, 
became  second  postmaster  and  held  that  office  until  1807. 
His  successor  was  Henry  Clinton  Brown,  a  Free  School 
graduate  and  son  of  the  famous  Col.  John  Brown  of  Pitts- 
field.  After  the  building  of  Green  River  Road  by  Keyes 
Danforth,  Sr.,  in  1827  and  Spring  Street  in  1848,  business 
moved  from  the  Square  down  to  River  and  Spring  streets, 

1  See  illustration,  Chapter  viii. 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  387 

and  the  Third  Congregational  Church  in  1864  was  also 
erected  on  Main  Street,  opposite  Spring  Street. 

The  Class  of  1798  was  the  first  to  hold  its  commencement  in 
the  new  Second  Church  on  the  Square.  During  the  French 
Revolution,  the  religious  and  political  attitude  of  some  of  the 
Trustees  of  Williams  College  and  the  Church  was  such  as  to 
injure  the  college  town.  The  Federalists,  including  Presi- 
dent Ebenezer  Fitch,  the  Rev.  Seth  Swift  of  the  Second 
Church,  Judge  David  Noble,  Daniel  Dewey,  Gen.  Samuel 
Sloan,  Levi  Smedley,  Nehemiah  Woodcock,  Asa  Burbank, 
and  Dr.  Remember  Sheldon,  held  a  neutral  position.  The 
Democrats  included  Gen.  Thompson  Joseph  Skinner,  Deacon 
Benjamin  Skinner,  Dr.  William  Towner,  Dr.  Samuel  Porter, 
William  Young,  Absalom  Blair  and  his  son,  William  Blair, 
Samuel  Kellogg,  Keyes  Danforth,  and  others,  who,  according 
to  the  French  Directory,  favored  Privateering.  This  was  in- 
jurious to  American  commerce.  President  John  Adams  was 
forced  to  organize  a  navy,  and  he  levied  an  army  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  George  Washington.  Williams  students 
of  the  Class  of  1798  volunteered  their  services  to  President 
Adams,  but  they  were  not  called  out  for  duty. 

One  of  the  fifteen  members  of  the  Class  of  1799  was 
Amos  Eaton,  the  distinguished  American  botanist  and  geolo- 
gist, son  of  Capt.  Abel  Eaton  of  Chatham,  N.  Y.,  and  the 
maternal  grandson  of  the  soldier,  Amos  Hurd,  who  died  in 
North  Adams  in  1 759.  After  graduation  he  studied  law  with 
Alexander  Hamilton  in  New  York  City  and  met  the  scien- 
tists, Dr.  David  Hosack  and  Samuel  L.  Mitchell.  Later  he 
opened  an  office  in  the  Catskills  and  during  surveying  expe- 
ditions began  to  study  the  flora  and  mineralogy  of  the  region. 
He  published  his  Elementary  Treatise  on  American  Botany 
in  1 8 10,  and  five  years  later  began  the  study  of  botany  and 
geology  under  Professors  Silliman  and  Ives  at  Yale.  During 
1 81 7,    Prof.   Chester   Dewey  of  Williams,    Class  of   1806, 


388  The  Hoosac  Valley 

invited  Amos  Eaton  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  to  volunteer 
students  at  his  Alma  Mater. 

A  letter1  in  the  Archives  of  Williams,  dated  April  8,  1817, 
addressed  to  Amos  Eaton,  the  author  of  Richards' s  Botanical 
Dictionary,  published  by  Webster  and  Skinner  of  Albany- 
is  signed  by  sixty-three  students  who  attended  those  lec- 
tures, among  the  signatures  being  that  of  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Emmons,  founder  of  the  Taconac  System2  and  author  of 
Manual  of  Mineralogy  and  Geology.  A  later  edition  of 
Eaton's  Manual  of  Botany  was  dedicated  to  the  president 
and  professors  of  Williams  College.  He  said:  "The  science 
of  Botany  is  indebted  to  you  for  its  first  introduction  into 
the  interior  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  am  indebted  to  you 
for  a  passport  into  the  scientific  world." 

The  science  of  geology  in  America  is  indebted  to  Amos 
Eaton  and  his  pupil,  Ebenezer  Emmons,  who  began  to  study 
the  rock  formation  of  the  Hoosacs,  Lake  District  of  Rens- 
selaer Plateau,  west  of  the  Taconacs,  in  1818.  At  the  same 
time,  Professors  Sedgwick  and  Otley  began  to  study  the 
geology  of  the  Lake  District  of  Cumberland  Hills,3  in 
England. 

Gov.  De  Witt  Clinton  in  1818  invited  Amos  Eaton  to  lec- 
ture before  the  members  of  the  Albany  Legislature.  Later 
Eaton  published  his  Index  to  Geology  and  was  appointed  to 
make  a  geological  survey  of  the  State  of  New  York.  In 
1824,  he  published  the  Natural  History  of  New  York,  and  in 
his  Preface  said:  "We  have  at  least  five  distinct  and  con- 
tinuous strata,  neither  of  which  can  with  propriety  take  any 
name  hitherto  given  and  defined  in  any  European  Treatise 
which  has  reached  this  country." 

Gen.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  a  Trustee  of  Williams  Col- 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  289. 

a  See  Introductory,  "The  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconac  Mountains." 

a  Rawnsley's  English  Lakes,  L,  p.  123. 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  389 

lege,  later  founded  Rensselaer's  School  of  Science  at  Troy, 
N.  Y.  He  appointed  Amos  Eaton,  senior  professor  until 
his  death  in  1842.  The  eighth  edition  of  Eaton's  North 
American  Botany,  published  in  1840,  contained  625  pages, 
describing  5267  species  of  plants.  This  manual  was  fol- 
lowed by  Oakes's  Flora  of  Vermont,  published  in  Thompson's 
Vermont  History,  in  1842. 

During  President  Fitch's  term  of  office  at  Williams,  two 
rebellions  took  place  among  the  students  and  faculty,  one 
in  1802,  and  another  in  1808.  These  two  outbreaks, 
together  with  the  defalcation  of  the  treasurer,  Thompson 
Joseph  Skinner,  affected  the  history  of  Williams  College 
and  threw  it  into  temporary  decline.  During  this  period, 
however,  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  from  Torrington,  Conn.,  the 
" Father  of  American  Foreign  Missions,"  entered  the  Fresh- 
man Class,  in  April,  1806;  and  the  future  poet,  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  from  Cummington,  Mass.,  entered  the  Sophomore 
Class,  October  9,  1810.  Bryant  was  established  in  room  11 
on  the  third  floor,  next  to  the  northeast  corner  of  West 
College,  in  company  with  John  Avery  from  Conway,  Mass., 
a  student  ten  years  his  senior,  studying  for  the  Episcopal 
Ministry.  The  campus  of  Williams  at  that  time  consisted  of 
the  East  College  and  West  College  buildings,  connected  by 
a  straight  avenue  between  Lombardy  poplars. 

The  poet,  Bryant,  said  in  his  Autobiography,  sixty-one 
years  later,  that  he  owed  much  to  his  room-mate's  example 
and  counsels,  during  his  seven  months'  course  at  Williams 
College.  Avery  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Philo- 
technian  Society  of  the  Adelphic  Union,  and  persuaded 
Bryant  to  join  that  society  and  encouraged  his  muse.  The 
library  of  the  Adelphic  Union,  containing  over  one  hundred 
volumes,  stood  in  an  alcove  of  the  hall  outside  Bryant's  room. 
Among  the  recent  works  of  that  period  were  found  Wash- 
ington Irving's  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York,  pub- 


390  The  Hoosac  Valley 

lished  in  1809,  and  Thomas  Moore's  Odes  and  Epistles, 
published  in  1806,  which  included  Anacreon's  Odes  and 
Moore's  American  poems  and  letters,  written  during  his  visit 
to  the  Hudson  and  St.  Lawrence  in  1804. 

Bryant  mastered  Latin  prosody  by  himself  at  Williams 
and  translated  Anacreon's  Ode  to  Spring,  comparing  it 
critically  with  Moore's  translation.  John  Avery  showed  the 
literary  critic  of  the  Junior  Class  unsigned  copies  of  both 
Bryant's  and  Moore's  translations.  The  critic  gave  the 
preference  to  Bryant's  translation,  and  spoke  encouragingly 
of  Moore's.  This  was  flattering  to  the  young  poet,  who  said 
as  a  child  that  he  used  to  pray  that  he  might  receive  the 
gift  of  poetic  genius,  and  write  verses  that  might  endure. 

Bryant  recorded  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Sopho- 
mores, previous  to  1809,  to  seize  the  Freshmen  and  compel 
them  to  go  through  a  series  of  burlesque  ceremonies,  called 
"gamutizing."  Several  roguish  fellows  often  kidnapped 
the  stalwart  student  guarding  the  belfry  on  the  third  floor 
of  West  College,  in  order  to  delay  recitations  or  prayers  for 
belated  students.  It  is  locally  reported  that  strayed  calves 
from  the  lanes  have  been  led  up  the  stairs  of  West  College 
and  found  bellowing  from  the  front  hall  window  in  the  morn- 
ing by  their  owners.  It  proved  an  easy  task  to  "gamutize" 
a  calf,  but  not  an  easy  one  to  get  the  conceited  animal  down 
to  earth  after  it  had  been  an  orator  in  the  library  of  the 
Adelphic  Union. 

Bryant's  room-mate,  John  Avery,  desired  to  complete 
his  theological  studies  at  Yale,  and  urged  young  Bryant  to 
join  him  there.  After  seven  months  at  Williams,  Bryant 
thus  asked  honorable  dismission  oh  May  8,  181 1.  His 
father,  Dr.  Peter  Bryant,  however,  was  unable  to  send  his 
son  to  Yale  or  even  let  him  return  to  Williams ;  and  the  poet 
was  forced  to  enter  the  law  office  of  Sedgwick  Brothers  in 
New  York  City.     Bryant  later  referred  to  the  office  work  as 


£ 


<X0 


ts 


391 


392  The  Hoosac  Valley 

" drudging  for  the  dregs  of  men,"  and  "scrawling  strange 
words  with  a  barbarous  pen,"  in  the  last  stanza  of  his  poem, 
Green  River. 

Bryant  wrote  a  satire  in  the  spring  of  1811,  entitled  De- 
scriptio  Gulielmopolis,  depicting  the  muddy  walks  of  Will- 
iams's campus,  and  the  frowning  tutors  guarding  the  dusty  and 
cobwebby  halls  of  learning.  This  was  read  before  the  Philo- 
technian  Society  in  March,  1812,  by  the  poet's  classmate, 
Charles  Jenkins,  who  possessed  a  copy  of  the  satire ;  or  later 
after  young  Jenkins  was  elected  tutor  at  Williams,  between 
18 1 6  and  1819.  His  son,  Dr.  J.  L.  Jenkins,  inherited  the 
famous  poem  after  his  father's  death  in  1831.  He  subse- 
quently became  an  alumnus  of  Yale  and  published  the  poem. 
It  was,  after  William  Cullen  Bryant's  death,  mentioned  by 
George  William  Curtis  in  his  Memorial  Oration,  before  the 
New  York  Historical  Society,  December  20,  1878.  It  greatly 
interested  the  alumni  of  Williams  and  copies  of  it  appear  in 
Williams  College  history. * 

Ebenezer  Fitch2  resigned  the  Presidency  of  Williams,  May 
2,  181 5.  A  committee  of  six  of  the  College  Trustees,  includ- 
ing Theophilus  Packard  of  Shelburne,  Thaddeus  Pomeroy  of 
Stockbridge,  Joseph  Lyman  of  Northampton,  Samuel  Shep- 
herd of  Lenox,  Daniel  Noble  of  Williamstown,  and  Joseph 
Woodbridge  of  Stockbridge,  were  appointed  to  consider  the 
removal  of  Williams  College  to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  east 
of  the  barrier  of  the  "Forbidden  Hoosac  Mountain."  How- 
ever, it  proved  inexpedient  to  remove  the  college,  owing  to 
the  forbidding  attitude  of  the  founders  of  the  English  Hoosac 
towns.  Trustee  Packard  temporarily  engaged  Prof.  Zepha- 
niah  Swift  Moore  of  Dartmouth  College  to  accept  the  Presi- 
dency of  Williams  with  a  provisional  promise  of  its  final 
removal  to  Amherst. 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  339-346. 

aNo  portrait  of  President  Fitch  exists  in  the  Archives  of  Williams  College. 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  393 

President  Moore1  was  a  son  of  Lieut.  Judah  Moore,  of 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  origin,  who  in  1776  located  with 
Colonel  Thomson  and  the  grandfathers  of  Elder  Brigham 
Young,  and  the  late  Judge  Levi  Chandler  Ball,  in  Wilming- 
ton, Vt.,  seventeen  miles  east  of  Bennington  Centre.  Young 
Moore  attended  Clio  Hall  at  Bennington  Centre  in  1778 
under  Tutor  Eldad  Dewey.  He  prepared  for  Dartmouth 
College  and  in  1793  graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty-three- 
He  married  Phcebe  Drury  of  Auburn,  Mass.,  and  became 
pastor  of  the  Leicester  Church  and  subsequently  professor  at 
Dartmouth,  which  office  he  held  until  elected  President  of 
Williams  College  in  181 5. 

Trustee  Packard  of  Shelburne  later  proposed  the  petition 
for  the  removal  of  Williams  College  to  Amherst,  and  in 
November,  1818,  nine  of  the  twelve  Trustees  consented  to 
this.  The  three  Trustees  who  voted  against  its  removal 
from  Hoosac  Valley  were  David  Noble  of  Williamstown, 
Israel  Jones  of  Adams,  and  Levi  Glezen  of  Stockbridge. 

President  Moore  and  the  other  Trustees  favoring  the 
removal  of  the  College  met  at  a  convention  of  the  Hampshire 
County  people  at  Northampton  in  August,  18 19;  and  the 
three  opposing  Trustees  met  with  a  large  conclave  of  Berk- 
shire people  at  Pittsfield  two  months  later.  The  Berkshire 
citizens  determined  that  "they  knew  not  what  would  restore 
to  the  community  that  confidence  that  sweetens  life  and 
binds  society  together;  nor  where  would  be  found  that  balm 
which  would  heal  the  wounds,"  if  Williams  College  should 
be  removed  from  Williamstown. 

The  Hampshire  County  folk  and  their  Trustees  subscribed 
$50,000  and  presented  their  petition  to  the  Legislature  on 
January  17,  1820,  for  aid  in  the  removal  of  the  College.  The 
Berkshire  County  citizens  also  held  a  convention  at  Williams- 
town, December  27,  18 19,  and  subscribed  $17,000  payable 

1  Tyler's  History  of  Amherst  College,  1873. 


394  The  Hoosac  Valley 

within  ten  years  to  the  Legislature  for  the  non-removal  of 
Williams  College  to  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Trustees 
Noble,  Jones,  and  Glezen  prepared  a  petition,  and  engaged 
Judge  Charles  A.  Dewey  of  Williamstown  to  draw  up  a 
legal  remonstrance  against  the  College's  removal,  which 
they  presented,  together  with  President  Fitch's  Report  of 
the  College,  read  before  the  Historical  Society  of  Massachu- 
setts in  1802,  to  the  Legislature,  January  17,  1820. 

The  Senate  and  House  discussed  two  questions:  "Was  it 
legal?"  and  "Was  it  expedient  to  remove  Williams  College?" 
In  the  similar  Dartmouth  College  Case  of  18 19,  Judge 
Nathaniel  Niles  of  West  Fairlee,  Vt.,  was  the  principal 
Trustee  for  the  corporation,  and  he  engaged  councillors 
Daniel  Webster  and  William  Wirt  to  defend  the  College. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  of  the  United  States  Court,  therefore, 
sustained  Webster's  novel  and  much  questioned  plea: 
"That  a  gift  to  a  charitable  institution  of  learning  is  a 
'contract,'  in  the  sense  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  between  donor  and  trustees.  To  impair  the  obliga- 
tion of  a  contract  by  any  law  of  any  State  is  forbidden  by 
the  national  Constitution." 

The  final  decision  of  the  Dartmouth  Case  influenced  the 
vote  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate  on  February  8,  1820, 
which  was  31  to  5;  and  that  of  the  House  on  February  14th 
following,  which  stood  120  to  25  against  the  removal  of 
Williams  College.  The  General  Court's  decision,  rendered 
to  President  Moore  and  his  nine  Trustees  of  Williams  was : 
"That  it  was  neither  lawful  nor  expedient  to  grant  the 
prayer  of  the  petitioners." 

President  Moore's  chief  argument  before  the  Legislature 
for  the  removal  of  Williams  College  was  that  Col.  Ephraim 
Williams's  Will  and  desire  for  the  founding  of  the  Free  School 
of  Williamstown  had  already  been  wilfully  broken  and  set 
aside,  in  the  first  place  by  excluding  girls  in  1791,  and  in  the 


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395 


396  The  Hoosac  Valley 

second  place  by  converting  the  Free  School  into  Williams 
College  in  1793.  Josiah  Quincy  in  his  address  before  the 
Senate  on  February  8,  1820,  said: 

The  trustees  came  all  the  way  to  Boston  to  make  a  con- 
fession of  a  great  crime.  They  tell  us  that  so  long  ago  as 
1793  they  perverted  the  Free  School  Fund,  which  the  donor 
designed  for  the  use  of  the  poor  people  of  Williamstown  (and 
Adams;  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  inhabitants, 
including  boys  and  girls  alike)  to  the  use  of  their  college, 
that  it  was  a  great  violation  of  a  sacred  trust.  .  .  .  What 
can  be  the  object  of  this  extraordinary  penitential  confession? 
Do  they  want  absolution?  No.  That  is  not  what  they 
want.  ...  In  consideration  of  their  confessing  one  crime, 
they  ask  your  indulgence  to  be  permitted  to  commit  another. 
They  tell  you  in  so  many  words  that  we  have  now  seven 
and  twenty  years  been  perverting  to  our  own  use  and  con- 
trary to  the  will  of  the  donor  one  half  of  our  present  funds; 
in  consideration  of  which  we  pray  liberty  to  abscond  with  the 
residue  I 

The  original  manuscript  copy  of  Quincy 's  Speech1  to  the 
Senate  was  presented  to  President  Mark  Hopkins  of  Williams 
a  year  previous  to  Quincy's  death  in  1863,  and  is  found  in  the 
College  Archives  to-day. 

In  May,  1821,  the  Trustees  of  Amherst  Charity  Academy 
elected  President  Moore  for  their  President  and  Professor  of 
Theology  and  Moral  Philosophy,  at  an  annual  salary  of  $1200, 
and  he  accepted  the  office  in  a  letter  dated  at  Williamstown  in 
June  of  the  same  year.  He  announced  his  resignation  of  the 
Presidency  of  Williams  to  the  eighty  students  assembled 
in  the  Chapel  of  West  College,  and  half  of  them  resolved  to 
join  him  at  Amherst  or  to  take  their  degrees  elsewhere. 

The  Senior  Class  called  a  meeting  and  Emerson  Davis 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  407. 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  397 

and  Erastus  Benedict  addressed  the  wavering  students. 
Fifteen  remained  and  took  their  degrees  at  Williams  in 
September,  from  the  hands  of  the  retired  President  Moore 
in  the  presence  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  who  was 
subsequently  elected  President  of  Williams.  On  September 
5,  1 82 1,  the  former  graduates  of  Williams  met  in  the  Chapel 
of  West  College  and  organized  the  famous  Alumni  Society 
for  the  promotion  of  fellowship,  literature,  and  interest  in 
their  Alma  Mater  which  was  the  first  society  of  college 
graduates  in  this  country.  In  1822  the  Berkshire  Medical 
Institute  was  founded  at  Pittsfield  and  its  degrees  were  con- 
ferred with  the  academical  degrees  of  Williams  College. 

President  Griffin  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1790  and  in 
1809  became  Professor  of  Pulpit  Eloquence  at  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  subsequently  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Newark,  N.  J.  He  was  known  as  the 
"Prince  of  Preachers."  He  instructed  the  Senior  Class  at 
Williams  and  preached  a  third  of  the  time  at  the  Church 
of  Christ  on  the  Square. 

Soon  after  President  Griffin's  arrival  at  Williamstown  in 
1 82 1,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Miss  Mary  Lyon,  of  Ipswich 
School  for  Girls,  who  in  1830  founded  Mount  Holyoke  School 
for  Girls,  requesting  her  to  recommend  one  of  her  graduates 
to  take  charge  of  the  Girls'  Department  of  Williams  College, 
about  to  be  established,  in  order  to  fulfil  the  Will  and  desire  of 
the  founder.  Miss  Sarah  Thayer  received  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation from  Miss  Lyon,  accompanied  with  President 
Griffin's  letter,  both  of  which  are  found  in  the  Archives  of 
Old  Deerfield  to-day.  Miss  Thayer  accepted  the  position. 
The  house  occupied  by  the  Girls'  Department  stood  west  of 
the  Square,  near  the  junction  of  Main  Street  with  Hemlock 
Glen  Road,  and  the  girls  attended  lectures  with  the  boys 
at  the  College  Chapel.  Among  the  girl  students  remembered 
by  this  generation  may  be  mentioned  the  venerable   Miss 


398  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Tyler  of  Lanesboro,  Miss  Halstead  of  North  Adams,  and 
Miss  Scott,  a  granddaughter  of  Phineas  Scott  of  West 
Bennington. 

The  Girls'  Department  of  Williams,  for  want  of  students, 
was  eventually  abandoned,  and  Miss  Thayer  opened  a  Girls' 
School  in  the  Congregational  Church  of  North  Adams,  built 
in  1827,  during  the  pastorship  of  Parson  Long.  She  subse- 
quently married  Truman  Paul  and  became  the  mother  of 
Jenny  Paul-Goodrich,  now  the  President  of  Fort  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society,  to  whom  the  writer  is  indebted  for 
these  hitherto  unpublished  facts. 

The  Class  of  1824  at  Williams  met  with  a  revival  led  by 
the  student  William  Harvey,  and  Mark  Hopkins  was  con- 
verted and  joined  Stockbridge  Church  in  1825.  One  of  the 
members  of  the  Class  of  1825  was  David  Dudley  Field,  who 
together  with  Henry  Dwight  Sedgwick  and  Robert  Sedg- 
wick of  the  Class  of  1804,  and  Martin  Ingram  Townsend  of 
the  Class  of  1833  are  among  the  most  distinguished  pioneer 
jurists  of  the  United  States.  The  Sedgwicks  in  1822  pub- 
lished essays  on  the  Evils  and  Absurdities  of  the  Practice  of 
English  Common  Law  in  the  United  States.  Two  years 
earlier  however,  Edward  Livingston  of  Princeton,  after  Rob- 
ert Livingston's  Louisiana  Purchase  from  Emperor  Napoleon 
of  France,  drew  up  the  Civil  Code  of  Louisiana  which  was 
adopted  in  1823. 

Later  the  Sedgwicks  adopted  Livingston's  Code  of  Louisi- 
ana as  a  model  and  revised  the  Code  of  New  York,  which  was 
not  completed  until  after  their  death  by  their  partner, 
David  Dudley  Field.  Stephen  J.  Field,  a  brother  of  David 
Dudley  Field  of  the  Class  of  1837,  a^so  became  his  partner 
in  1840,  and  ten  years  later  moved  to  California  and  framed 
the  Judiciary  Act  of  that  State. 

The  Legislature  of  New  York  in  1857  began  a  law  reform, 
and  commissioned  David  Dudley  Field  to  prepare  a  political, 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  399 

penal,  and  civil  code  and  procedures,  embracing  the  whole 
body  of  the  law.  He  became  greatly  honored  in  Europe 
and  was  recognized  as  the  New  England  Gladstone.  He 
lived  to  behold  Parliament  adopt  the  principles  and  forms  of 
his  Civil  Code  of  New  York  in  England's  Supreme  Court 
of  Judicature  Act,  and  was  foremost  in  promoting  a  Code  of 
International  Law  with  European  publicists.  At  a  banquet 
of  the  Law  Reform  Society  in  London,  Lord  Brougham 
stated  that  Field's  New  York  Code  had  been  introduced  in 
the  most  distant  British  colonies  and  that,  an  "American 
was  giving  law  to  Australia." 

In  1825,  the  Trustees  of  Williams  resolved  to  raise  $25,000 
to  build  Griffin  Chapel  and  found  a  Professorship  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy.  Meanwhile  Prof.  Chester 
Dewey  resigned  the  chair  of  Natural  Science  to  take  charge 
of  the  Pittsfield  Gymnasium,  a  school  for  boys.  He  owned 
the  largest  herbarium  of  the  genus  of  sedges  in  the  world, 
and  this  he  presented  to  Williams  College  before  his  death  in 
1867.  After  Dewey's  departure,  Albert  Hopkins  was  chosen 
for  the  Professorship  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy, 
which  he  filled  until  1862,  when  he  was  elected  Memorial 
Professor  of  Astronomy,  an  office  founded  by  David  Dudley 
Field,  in  which  he  continued  until  his  death  in  1872. 

The  historic  newspaper,  The  American  Advocate,  was 
founded  and  printed  by  Ridley  Bannister  at  Williamstown  in 
1827  in  the  Old  Academy  building  on  Spring  Street.  He  was 
a  kinsman  of  Homer  and  Addison  Bannister  of  Pownal,  Vt. 
His  paper  advocated  the  Democratic  policy  against  the  Fed- 
eralists during  the  period  when  Henry  Clay  was  a  candidate 
for  Presidency  of  the  United  States  against  John  Quincy 
Adams.  Clay  was  supported  by  Henry  Shaw,  the  father  of 
the  humourist,  "Josh  Billings"  of  Lanesboro,  and  several 
Benningtonians.  There  are  seventy-six  numbers  of  the 
paper  preserved  in  Williams  College  Archives.     A  list  of 


400  The  Hoosac  Valley 

plants  and  minerals  collected  by  Dr.  Ebenezer  Emmons  dur- 
ing his  rides  between  Cheshire,  Williamstown,  and  Pownal 
Bogs  of  Ashawagh,1  together  with  the  religious  essays  of 
Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  signed  "U, "  also  appeared  in  The 
Advocate.  Mark  Hopkins  delivered  his  master's  Oration  on 
Mystery  at  Williams  commencement  in  September,  1827. 
This  famous  oration  was  published  in  Silliman's  American 
Journal  of  Science  and  Arts  in  April,  1828 ;  his  address  before 
the  Stockbridge  Agricultural  Society  appeared  in  The 
American  Advocate  during  October,  1827.  The  newspaper 
ceased  publication  in  November,  1828. 

Col.  Henry  W.  D wight,  Jr.,  of  Stockbridge,  a  former  Repre- 
sentative of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  at  Washington, 
championed  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins  and  he  obtained  license  to 
preach.  After  the  death  of  Prof.  William  Porter  of  Williams 
in  1830,  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins  accepted  the  vacant  chair  of 
Moral  Philosophy  and  Rhetoric.  Three  years  later  Presi- 
dent Griffin  had  a  slight  paralytic  stroke.  On  June  15, 
1834,  he  organized  the  Williams  College  Church  in  Griffin 
Chapel.  It  proved  his  last  official  act  previous  to  his  resig- 
nation on  September  28,  1836.  The  first  three  names  on  the 
College  Church  records  included  those  of  Mark  Hopkins, 
Albert  Hopkins,  and  Tutor  Simeon  H.  Calhoun. 

Prof.  Mark  Hopkins,  during  President  Griffin's  decline, 
became  instructor  of  the  Senior  Class  of  1834  and  was  elected 
President  of  Williams  College  in  1836.  His  Inaugural 
Address  was  entitled  A  Wise  System  of  Education.  He 
became  the  greatest  educator  in  New  England. 

Between  1834  and  the  semi-centennial  in  1843  began  the 
progressive  period  of  Williams  College.  Prof.  Albert  Hop- 
kins sailed  for  Europe  at  his  own  expense  in  September,  1 834, 
to  procure  apparatus  for  his  astronomical  and  meteorological 
observatories.     After   his   return   in    November,  1836,  he 

1  See  Note  1  at  end  of  volume. 


Free  School  of  Williamstown 


40f 


repaired  with  a  party  of  students  wielding  crow-bars  to 
the  quartzite  ledges  on  Alberta's  Mountain  (East  Range) 
and  quarried  the  rock  of  which  the  ancient  astronomical 
observatory  was  constructed.  It  was  dedicated  on  June  12, 
1838.     Albert  Hopkins  is  justly  known  as  the  "  Father  of 


Hopkins's  Astronomical  Observatory,  founded  by  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  1838. 
It  is  the  first  observatory  of  its  kind  erected  in  America. 

American  Astronomy,' '  although  a  dozen  years  earlier,  in 
1826,  a  small  astronomical  observatory  was  built  by  the 
University  of  North  Carolina. 

Few  of  this  generation  know  anything  about  the  Garden, 
Chip,  Mountain,  and  Gravel  Days,  connected  with  the  gym- 
nastic exercises  of  Williams  College  students  between  1793 
and  1872,  now  replaced  by  Lassell's  Gymnasium  and  by 
exercises  on  Weston's  Field.     The  pioneer  students  owned 

their  own  wood-piles,  and  became  masters  at  kindling  fires, 
26 


402  The  Hoosac  Valley 

saw-buck  philosophy,  and  drawing  water  up  the  slippery 
path  from  the  College  Spring,  unless  wealthy  enough  to 
engage  Bill  Pratt  to  assume  those  duties  for  them.  Half  a 
cord  of  wood  lasted  a  term,  and  two  quarts  of  burning  fluid 
proved  sufficient  for  the  midnight  spirit-lamp  for  two 
weeks. 

The  Class  of  1850  was  the  first  to  construct  a  gymnasium 
apparatus  in  the  field  southwest  of  West  College.  It  con- 
sisted of  one  horizontal  bar,  a  fixed  sloping  ladder  for  hand 
climbing,  one  sliding  pole,  and  three  swinging  ropes.  The 
apparatus  was  destroyed  by  some  malicious  person  one  night 
and  all  except  one  strand  cut  in  the  ropes,  injuring  all  beyond 
repair. 

Garden  Day  was  established  by  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  and 
Prof.  Ebenezer  Kellogg.  The  latter  presented  an  acre  of 
ground  to  the  College  in  1835  for  a  public  garden,  after  which 
the  first  Horticultural  Society  for  landscape  gardening  in  this 
country  was  organized.  In  a  subsequent  day  (1877),  Cyrus 
w>*.  Field  presented  $10,000  to  Williamstown  to  beautify 
'Main  Street  by  removing  fences,  laying  out  Field  Park,  and 
lighting  the  streets  with  gas.  Water  was  conducted  in  pipes 
to  the  College  dormitories  from  Cold  Spring  in  Hemlock 
Glen  in  1888.  Chip  Day  was  introductory  for  Garden  Day, 
and  occurred  about  the  middle  of  May  during  the  third  term. 
The  students  raked  up  the  chips  and  saw-dust  about  their 
wood-piles  and  prepared  the  campus  for  the  summer  months. 

Mountain  Day  came  on  the  second  Monday  of  the  third 
term,  and  several  students  climbed  to  Mount  Greylock  and 
remained  overnight  to  behold  the  sunrise  from  Albert  Hop- 
kins^ Meteorological  Observatory.  Henry  D.  Thoreau  visi- 
ted Mount  Greylock  during  July,  1846,  and,  interested  in  the 
object  of  the  tower,  said  that  "it  would  be  no  small  advan- 
tage if  every  college  were  thus  located  at  the  base  of  a  moun- 
tain, as  good  at  least  as  one  well-endowed  professorship.  .  .  . 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  403 

Every  visit  to  its  summit  would,  as  it  were,  generalize  the 
particular  information  gained  below,  and  subject  it  to  more 
catholic  tests.' ' 

The  second  Monday  of  the  fall  term  was  known  as  Gravel 
Day,  and  was  observed  by  the  students  hauling  gravel  to 
spread  over  the  paths  of  the  campus.  This  custom  passed 
away  about  1850,  when  each  student  was  assessed,  and  men 
were  hired  with  teams  to  haul  the  gravel,  while  the  students 
took  a  holiday,  known  as  Mountain  Day  later,  to  some 
historic  or  natural  history  field  in  Hoosac  Valley. 

The  Natural  History  Society  of  Williams  in  1835  organ- 
ized the  first  ecological  expedition  in  this  country,  headed 
by  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  Dr.  Ebenezer  Emmons,  Tutor 
Calhoun,  seventeen  students,  and  three  townsmen.  They 
set  sail  from  Boston  on  the  Yarmouth  sloop  Flight  and  visited 
St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  Halifax,  and  Windsor,  Nova 
Scotia.  Professor  Hopkins  wrote  an  account  of  the  expedi- 
tion, which  appeared,  October,  1835,  in  The  American  Travel- 
ler, s  a  paper  published  by  a  Williams  alumnus. 

The  most  distinguished  visitor  at  Williams  College  com- 
mencement on  August  15,  1838,  was  the  novelist,  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne.  In  his  American  Note-Book  he  describes  the 
yeoman's  daughters'  sunburnt  necks  and  silk  and  cambric 
dresses;  and  the  rough,  brown-featured,  school-master- 
looking,  half-bumpkin,  half-scholarly  graduates,  dressed  in 
black,  ill-cut  broadcloth,  and  pumps.  He  considered  their 
manners  very  bad,  although  he  discovered  gentlemanly  fel- 
lows there,  including  his  hero,  Eustace  Bright,  who  figured 
in  Tanglewood  Tales  and  Wonder  Book. 

Hawthorne  evidently  enjoyed  studying  the  crowd  of 
fugitive  slaves  from  White  Oaks,  dispensing  ginger-bread, 
watermelon,  and  apple-toddy  about  the  Square;  while 
a  Jewish  auctioneer  from  New  York  with  his  heterogeneous 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  566-570. 


404  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

art  icles,  and  Sheriff  Twining  of  Pittsfield  with  his  pockets 
bulging  with  writs  of  ejectment  were,  to  the  novelist,  a  part 
of  the  commencement  exercises  that  attracted  him  above 
President  Mark  Hopkins's  address  or  the  orations  of  the 
graduates. 

President  Mark  Hopkins's  Baccalaureate  orations  were 
always  considered  profound,  but  the  eloquence  of  his  Address 
to  the  Alumni  at  the  semi-centennial  of  the  College,  in  1843, 
surpassed  them  all.    Of  the  Alumni  he  said : 

They  have  come  from  the  yeomanry  of  the  country,  from 
the  plough  and  the  work-shop,  with  clear  heads,  and  firm 
nerves,  and  industrious  habits,  and  unperverted  tastes — 
in  need,  it  may  be,  of  polish,  but  susceptible  of  the  highest. 
.  .  .  The  progress  of  knowledge  and  improvement  is  like 
the  gradual  accumulation  of  a  pile  to  which  every  scholar 
may  be  expected  to  add  something,  as  every  Indian  is  said 
to  have  laid  a  stone  upon  the  pile  at  the  foot  of  Monument 
Mountain,  but  in  other  respects  it  is  more  like  the  progress 
of  a  fire  which  is  set  at  certain  points,  and  spreads  on  every 
side.  Luther,  and  Bacon,  and  Newton,  and  Carey,  and 
Samuel  J.  Mills,  set  fires,  and  he  who  does  this  to  any  extent 
does  something  for  the  race,  even  though  that  which  kindled 
the  blaze  was  but  a  spark,  and  was  lost  in  the  brightness 
and  glow  of  the  succeeding  conflagration.  .  .  . 

The  teacher  is  to  make  nature  the  principle,  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  is  to  let  her  do  her  own  teaching.  .  .  .  Have 
the  means  and  apparatus  to  do  this  fully,  and  your  course 
loses  the  character  of  mere  book-learning.  The  student  is 
led  to  direct  communion  with  nature,  and  with  nature's 
God,  and  though  you  do  not  advance  science  immediately, 
yet  you  kindle  fires.  You  incorporate  your  course  into  the 
very  being.  You  awake  thoughts  and  feelings,  "that  shall 
perish  never." 

Mark  Hopkins's  system  of  education  was  likened  to  that  of 
Socrates;  and  he  never  realized  himself  that  he  practised  a 


Free  School  of  Williamstown  405 

manner  in  teaching  pursued  by  Plato,  who  labored  to 
awaken  the  creative  and  reflective  minds  of  his  pupils,  urg- 
ing them  to  arrive  at  definite  conclusions  of  their  own  rather 
than  to  accept  the  definite  conclusions  of  others. 

After  thirty-six  years  of  service,  President  Mark  Hopkins 
resigned  his  office  to  Paul  Ansel  Chadbourne  of  the  Class 
of  1848  on  July  2J,  1872.  The  ceremony  of  passing  the  keys 
of  Williams  College  over  to  his  pupil  was  most  impressive. 
President  Chadbourne's  inaugural  oration  was  followed  by 
Dr.  John  Bascom's  welcoming  address  in  behalf  of  the 
faculty ;  and  by  James  Abram  Garfield's  address  in  behalf  of 
the  alumni.  President  Chadbourne  resigned  his  office  in 
June,  1 88 1,  and  accepted  the  Presidency  of  Amherst  Agri- 
cultural College. 

Franklin  Carter  of  the  Class  of  1862  succeeded  to  the 
Presidency  of  Williams  in  1881  and  held  the  office  for  twenty 
years,  resigning  in  1901.  The  late  Henry  Hopkins  of  the 
Class  of  1858,  son  of  Mark  Hopkins,  was  chosen  President 
of  Williams  in  190 1.  He  resigned  his  office  in  1908,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Harry  Augustus  Garfield,  of  the  Class  of 
1885,  a  son  of  James  Abram  Garfield  of  the  Class  of  1856. 

Gen.  James  Abram  Garfield,  in  an  address  delivered  at 
Washington,  February,  1879,  previous  to  his  election  as 
President  of  the  United  States  said :  "Give  me  a  simple  cabin 
with  a  log  inside,  Mark  Hopkins  sitting  upon  one  end  of  the 
log  and  myself  upon  the  other,  and  that  is  College  enough 
for  me."  A  Boston  jurist  also  said:  "I  have  never  yet  met 
with  a  graduate  of  Williams  College  who  did  not  bear  in 
himself,  in  some  measure,  the  impress  of  Mark  Hopkins. 
Williams  College  and  Mark  Hopkins!  How  inseparably 
connected  are  those  names!" 

Bryant's  Class  of  1813  held  its  fiftieth  reunion  during  the 
perilous  autumn  of  1 8  63 .  The  absent  poet  sent  a  poem  which 
was  read  by  Gen.  Charles  Frederick  Sedgwick.     He  said : 


406  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Look  back  on  fifty  years.   Large  space  are  they 
Of  man's  brief  life,  those  fifty  years;  they  join 
Its  ruddy  morning  to  the  paler  light 
Of  its  declining  hours.  .  .  . 

The  sapling  tree 

Which  then  was  planted  stands  a  shaggy  trunk, 
Moss-grown,  the  centre  of  a  mighty  shade. z 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Alumni  Association  in  1869,  William 
Cullen  Bryant  was  chosen  president.  Mark  Hopkins  in  his 
introduction  said:  "He  is  one  having  the  wisdom  of  age  in 
his  youth  and  the  vigour  of  youth  in  his  old  age." 

The  Class  of  1850  included  the  names  of  Dudley  Field, 
William  T.  Booth,  and  William  D.  Porter.  Dudley  Field 
delivered  the  Philosophical  Oration ;  his  father,  David  Dud- 
ley Field,  addressed  the  alumni;  and  his  grandfather,  the 
Rev.  David  Field  of  Stockbridge,  offered  the  closing  prayer. 
The  loyalty  of  the  sons  of  Williams  is  illustrated  by  their 
donations  for  erecting  halls  and  fraternity  buildings  on  the 
classical  hills  of  Williamstown,  including  Morgan  Hall, 
Hopkins  Memorial  Hall,  Thompson  Biological  Laboratories, 
and  the  Thompson  Memorial  Chapel,  the  finest  cathedral 
in  Hoosac  Valley,  and  a  host  of  other  buildings. 

Among  the  seven  most  eminent  alumni  of  Williams  during 
its  first  century,  according  to  the  late  historian  Arthur 
Latham  Perry,  may  be  included: 

1 — Amos  Eaton  1799  Naturalist  and  Promoter 

2 — William  Cullen  Bryant  1813  Poet  and  Publicist 

3 — Mark  Hopkins  1824  Teacher  and  Preacher 

4 — David  Dudley  Field  1825  Lawyer  and  Codifier 

5 — William  Dwight  Whitney  1845  Scholar  and  Lexicographer 

6 — John  Bascom  1849  Thinker  and  Orator 

7 — James  Abram  Garfield  1856  Worker  and  Winner 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  348-9. 


407 


408  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Perry  considered  that  William  Dwight  Whitney  and 
John  Bascom  were  the  most  scholarly  men  ever  graduated 
at  Williams  College.  To  the  above  list  might  be  added 
ten  times  seven  other  eminent  names,  which  would  certainly 
include  those  of  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  the  brothers,  Henry 
Dwight  and  Robert  Sedgwick,  Chester  Dewey,  Ebenezer 
Emmons,  Albert  Hopkins,  Martin  I.  Townsend,  and  Arthur 
Latham  Perry,  who  have  "set  fires"  in  the  minds  of  other 
generations  than  their  own. 

The  General  Catalogue  of  Williams  College  between  1793 
and  1903  contains  the  names  of  4685  graduates,  and  over 
445  non-graduates,  who  have  received  honorary  degrees, 
including  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Joseph  Hodge  Choate, 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  Elihu  Root,  and  other  famous  men. 

The  Centennial  of  Williams  was  celebrated,  October  8, 
1893.  Orations  were  delivered  by  the  Alumni,  Rev.  Henry 
Hopkins,  late  President  of  Williams ;  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall, 
James  Hulme  Canfield,  and  Granville  Stanley  Hall.  The 
Rev.  Washington  Gladden  read  a  poem  on  the  founding  of 
the  College  in  1793,  in  which  he  says: 

A  hundred  years  their  gifts  have  brought 
To  crown  the  work  that  day  begun; 

And  flames  off  this  altar  caught 
Light  every  land  beneath  the  sun. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

SLAVERY    AND     THE     BIRTHPLACE     OF    AMERICAN     MISSEONS 

I 773-1906 

The  Field  is  the  World 

INSCRIPTION   ON  MISSION  MONUMENT. 

Proto-Abolitionists — Fugitive  Slaves — Separatism — Infidelism — Old  Lights — ■ 
New  Lights — Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr. — Haystack  Prayer-meeting — Birth  of 
American  Foreign  and  Home  Missions — Semi- Centennial  of  Foreign 
Missions,  1856 — Haystack  Monument — Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
Parishes — Civil  War — Centennial  of  Foreign  Missions,  1906. 

STRANGERS  visiting  Mission  Park  in  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  are  attracted  by  the  odd  "  Haystack  Monu- 
ment/ '  which  marks  the  birthplace  of  American  Foreign 
Missions.  The  pedestal  is  surmounted  by  a  huge  marble 
world,  on  which  are  represented  in  outline  the  five  continents. 
Yonder  Dome  and  Old  Greylock  are  not  the  Mounts  of 
Lebanon,  nor  is  the  devious  Hoosac  the  Orontes  of  ancient 
Antioch  where  the  first  band  of  Christians  assembled.  Yet 
" Haystack  Monument"  marks  the  modern  Antioch  of  the 
New  World,  where  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  and  four  Christian 
classmates  of  Williams,  including  Richards,  Robbins,  Loomis 
and  Green  in  August,  1806,  during  a  thunder-storm,  offered 
prayers  beneath  a  haystack,  which  occasion  led  to  the 
organization  of  the  Society  of  United  Brethren,  that  first 
carried  the  story  of  Christ  to  the  heathens  of  Asia  and  poor, 
degraded  Africa. 

The  cruelties  of  the  slave  trade  led  many  students  to  pro- 
test against  slavery.    The  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  of  Great 

409 


4io  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Barrington  Church  of  Old  Berkshire  proved  the  first  prac- 
tical proto-abolitionist  in  America,  preaching  against  the 
slave  traders'  cruelty  from  1745  until  his  death.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  describes  Parson  Hopkins  as  the  hero  in  her 
Minister's  Wooing.  He  was  a  brother  of  Col.  Mark  Hop- 
kins, the  grandfather  of  the  late  President  Mark  Hopkins  of 
Williams  College.  The  poet  Whitter  said  of  Samuel  Hop- 
kins that  he  once  owned  a  slave  whom  he  sold,  and  devoted 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  to  educate  a  Negro  missionary. 
After  his  removal  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  1770,  Parson  Hopkins 
rose  before  his  wealthy  slave-holding  congregation  and  in  the 
name  of  the  Highest  demanded  "the  opening  of  the  prison 
doors  to  them  that  were  bound." 

During  1773,  Samuel  Hopkins  and  his  neighbor,  Rev. 
Ezra  Stiles,  organized  the  first  missionary  society  in  New 
England.  They  made  appeals  for  money  to  educate  Negro 
ministers  to  found  Christian  colonies  in  Africa,  but  the  War 
of  the  American  Revolution  prevented  the  missionaries 
sailing  for  Africa.  The  following  year,  on  June  3,  1774, 
Nathaniel  Niles,  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Solomon  Niles,  the 
first  minister  of  the  Second  Church  of  Brain  tree,  Mass., 
preached  the  first  practical  abolition  sermon,  entitled  Civil 
Liberty, x  in  the  American  colonies  at  the  Old  North  Church 
in  Newbury  port,  Mass. 

Samuel  Hopkins,  Ezra  Stiles,  and  Nathaniel  Niles  were 
all  friends  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Mills  of  Torrington  Church, 
Conn.,  editor  of  the  Evangelical  Magazine,  publishing  the 
missionary  news  in  the  colonies.  Mills's  youngest  son, 
Samuel,  was  born,  April  21,  1783,  and  was  familiar  with  the 
Connecticut  missionary  society's  hope  of  founding  missions 
in  Asia  and  Africa,  and  as  a  child  was  consecrated  by  his 
parents  as  a  foreign  missionary. 

Foreign  missions,  both  in  England  and  New  England, 

1  Nathan  N.  Withington,  "  A  Clergynaanof  Old,"  N.  E.  Mag.,  February,  1905. 


Haystack  Monument,  Mission  Park,  Williamstown,  Massachusetts. 


The  Birthplace  of  American  Foreign  Missions — the  New  Antioch,  where 
Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  and  four  classmates  of  Williams  College  held  a  Prayer- 
meeting  beneath  a  haystack  during  an  August  thunder-storm  in  1806,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  organization  of  both  Foreign  and  Home  Missions  in  America. 

411 


412  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

were  conceived  in  individual  souls.  William  Corey,  known 
as  the  "Father  of  British  Foreign  Missions,"  a  cobbler  and 
Baptist  Elder  of  London  in  1786  first  advocated  carrying 
Christianity  to  the  heathens  of  Asia,  but  his  plea  for  aid  was 
frowned  down.  However,  in  1793,  he  in  company  with 
missionary  Thomas  were  sent  to  India  and  founded  the  first 
Baptist  mission  colony.  John  Corey  of  Fort  Massachusetts 
and  his  kindred,  Benedict  and  Paris  Corey  of  Pownal  pro- 
priety, were  lineal  descendants  of  Elder  William  Corey  of 
London. 

The  first  chaplains  of  Fort  Massachusetts,  including  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Strong  and  Rev.  Stephen  West,  between 
1756  and  1758  were  Yale  graduates,  as  were  the  first 
ministers  of  Williamstown  and  Adams,  and  the  subsequent 
Ebenezer  Fitch,  first  President  of  Williams  College.  These 
divines  all  came  under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Naphtali 
Daggett,  First  Professor  of  Divinity,  between  1755  and 
1777,  and  subsequently  President  of  Yale  College.  He  died 
in  1780  of  wounds  received  in  battle  with  the  British  at  New 
Haven  in  1777,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  learned  Ezra 
Stiles. 

Home  Missions  in  Hoosac  Valley  were  first  instituted 
between  1761  and  1763,  when  the  Rev.  Hugh  Peters  of  the 
Separatists*  Church  travelled  among  the  first  30,000  settlers, 
residing  between  Hoosac  Tunnel  Mountain  and  Canada. 
His  kinsman,  Gen.  Absalom  Peters  of  Wentworth,  N.  H., 
and  his  wife,  who  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  John  Rogers, 
the  "Martyr  of  Catechism,"  became  the  parents  of  Absalom 
Peters,  a  subsequent  pastor  of  the  Old  First  Church  of 
Bennington  Centre,  Vt.  He  was  chosen  Secretary  of  the 
Society  of  United  Missions  in  1825  and  during  1837  was 
elected  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  American  Home  Missions, 
and  is  known  to-day  as  the  "Father  of  Home  Missions." 
Parson  Peters  edited  the  Home  Missionary  and  Pastor's  Jour- 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  413 

nal,  while  at  Bennington;  and  later  became  pastor  of  the 
First  Church  of  Williamstown  between  1844  and  1857, 
where  he  met  many  missionaries. 

During  the  English,  American,  and  French  Revolutions, 
a  great  deal  was  published  relating  to  the  Brownists'  or 
Separatists'  Systems  of  Luther,  Calvin,  Eliot,  Robinson, 
Mather,  Penn,  Stoddard,  Edwards,  Sergeant,  Brainard, 
Zinzendorf,  Spencer,  Francke,  Hopkins,  Whitefield,  Wesley, 
Embury,  Warren,  Miller,  Ann  Lee,  Brigham  Young,  and 
Bushnell.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  said  that:  "It  was  a  bad 
generation  of  books!"  Publications  between  the  American 
and  French  Revolutions  included  either  abnormally  pious 
memoirs  of  missionaries  or  the  outpourings  of  infidels. 
Among  these  were  Jonathan  Edwards's  Divine  Revelation, 
a  contrast  to  Ethan  Allen's  Oracle  of  Reason,  published  at 
Bennington  Centre,  Vt.,  in  1782,  followed  by  Thomas  Paine's 
Age  of  Reason.  The  latter,  written  in  a  French  prison  in 
!793>  greatly  influenced  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  New 
England. 

The  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  and  the  anti-slavery  writings 
of  Wilberforce  roused  New  Englanders  against  the  slave- 
trade.  Slavery,  however,  was  prohibited  in  Vermont's  Con- 
stitution. On  November  28,  1777,  Capt.  Ebenezer  Allen  of 
Tinmouth,  a  cousin  of  Ethan  Allen,  captured  Diana  Mattis 
and  her  infant,  Nancy,  with  a  few  British  soldiers  on  Lake 
Champlain.  He  gave  her  a  certificate  of  emancipation,  he 
being  "  conscientious  that  it  was  not  right  in  the  sight  of 
God  to  keep  slaves."  This  paper  is  found  recorded  in  the 
County  Clerk's  Office  at  Bennington  to-day.  Three  years 
later,  the  Rev.  David  Avery  was  installed  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  of  Bennington  Centre,  and  insisted  upon  his  right 
to  retain  a  Negro  woman  as  slave.  Several  of  his  parish- 
ioners refused  Holy  Communion  from  his  hands,  and  he 
was  forced  to  resign  in  May,  1 783.     Judge  Theophilus  Har- 


414  The  Hoosac  Valley 

rington  made  slavery  impossible  in  the  Green  Mountains, 
when  in  1803  he  demanded  a  Shaftsbury  slave-owner  to 
produce  a  "Bill  of  Sale  for  his  slaves  from  the  Almighty 
God." 

During  1781,  Brom  and  Bet,  through  alleged  cruelty  of 
the  wealthy  slave-trader,  Col.  John  Ashley,  son  of  Elder 
Jonathan  Ashley  of  the  First  Church  of  Old  Deerfield  in 
Berkshire,  ran  away  and  refused  to  return  to  their  master. 
Colonel  Ashley  engaged  Judge  David  Noble  of  Williams- 
town,  and  Judge  Canfield  of  Sharon,  Conn.,  while  Brom  and 
Bet  secured  the  volunteered  councils  of  Judge  Theodore 
Sedgwick  of  Stockbridge  and  Tapping  Reeve  of  Litchfield 
Hill,  Conn.  The  latter  proved  the  first  American  jurist  to 
arrange  a  Treatise  on  the  Domestic  Relation  from  England's 
Common  Law,  advocating  women's  rights. 

The  case  of  Brom  and  Bet  was  decided  in  favor  of  Ashley 
by  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  but  the  slaves  never  returned 
to  their  master,  and  Marm  Bet  remained  the  maid  of  Cath- 
erine Sedgwick  until  her  death.  In  the  subsequent  case 
of  Greenwood  versus  Curtiss  in  1802,  Judge  Sedgwick  advo- 
cated Lord  Mansfield's  plea  in  the  Negro  Sumerset,  case: 
That  by  the  law  of  Nature,  which  was  the  law  of  Massa- 
chusetts, one  man  cannot  have  a  legitimate  property  in 
another,  and  that  any  contract  involving  such  property 
was  therefore  void.  Slavery  was  practically  abolished  in 
Massachusetts  after  the  case  of  Brom  and  Bet,  although  it 
was  not  done  away  with  in  Dutch  Hoosac,  New  York,  until 
the  Emancipation  Act  in  1827.  At  the  opening  of  1800, 
there  were  34,000  slaves  in  New  York  State,  selling  at  an 
average  price  of  $325  each,  and  manorial  "  Nigger- whippers  " 
were  appointed  until  1827. 

The  slaves  of  the  Dutch  patroons  of  Hoosac  and  Rensselaer- 
wyck,  between  1664  and  181 1,  celebrated  Pass  and  Pinxster 
Festivals.     On  Pinxster  Day,  Whitsun  Monday  in  May, 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  415 


began  a  week's  holiday  for  the  Negroes.  They  assembled 
on  Pinxster  Hill 
in  Albany  or 
in  Troy,  where 
they  gathered 
Pinxster  -flow- 
ers,  (Azalea  nu- 
di flora,)  and 
paraded  the  vil- 
lage streets. 
The  evenings 
were  spent  in 
feasting,  danc- 
ing, and  love- 
making.  Old 
King  Charlie 
from  Columbia 
County  and  Un- 
cle Tom  from 
Knickerbacker '  s 
Schaghticoke 
Manor  o  n  the 
lower  Hoosac, 
of  charcoal 
blackness,  were 
clad  in  gold- 
laced  scarlet 
coat  and  yellow 
breeches,  and 
amused  the 
crowd  with  an- 
tics and  songs. 
Owing  to  the 
Bacchanalian 


Uncle  Abe-the-Bunter ,  White  Oaks  Glen. 

A  fugitive  slave  from  a  Virginian  plantation,  who 
resided  with  the  Parsons  family  in  White  Creek  and 
Dutch  Hoosac,  New  York,  whence  he  escaped  to  White 
Oaks  and  built  his  cabin  on  an  island  in  Broad  Brook 
above  the  Sand  Springs.  He  was  known  locally  as 
Abraham  Parsons.  The  designation  of  "Abe-the- 
Bunter  "  originated  from  a  horny  growth  on  his  occipi- 
tal skull.  He  won  wagers  with  the  College  students, 
breaking  a  grindstone  disguised  as  a  hard  cheese  in  a 
bag,  and  bursting  the  head  of  an  oak  hogshead  of  mo- 
lasses. He  married  Elsie  Or combr eight,  a  daughter  of 
the  Stockbridge  Chieftain  Orcombreight,  and  died  at  the 
Williamstown  Poor-House  in  i8qq  at  an  unknown  age. 


416  The  Hoosac  Valley 

custom  of  Pinxster  week,  it  was  finally  abolished  by  the 
Albany  Council,  April  28,  181 1. 

Between  1781  and  1827  several  Negro  slaves  of  Berkshire, 
Albany,  Saratoga,  and  Dutch  Hoosac  fled  to  English  Hoosac 
and  settled  on  the  banks  of  Broad  Brook  in  White  Oaks  Glen, 
Williamstown.  Among  those  fugitives  may  be  mentioned 
Emerson  Davis,  Moses  Todd,  Samuel  Porter,  Ishmael  Tite, 
Abraham  Parsons,  Blind  Jake,  Aunt  Dinah  Jackson-Jones, 
Polly  Cato,  Polly  Martin,  the  Duncan,  Lansing,  Vincent, 
Curtiss,  and  Adams  families.  The  Indian  Holmes  and  his 
Negro  wife,  Phcebe,  resided  near  Phcebe  Brook,  where  Holmes 
was  killed  at  the  turkey  shoot  near  the  cider-still  spring  in 
Ford  Glen.  The  chieftain  Orcombreight,  (All-come-bright), 
was  descended  from  the  royal  Mahican  King's  family  seated 
at  Stockbridge.  He  married  a  yellow-haired  Dutch-Negro 
half-breed,  and  they  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Dan, 
Franz,  Elsie,  and  Sarah.  The  sons  married  white  women 
and  the  daughters  chose  Abraham  Parsons  and  George 
Adams,  typical  full-blood  Negroes.  Orcombreight  died  at 
Nathan  Worthy's  home,  west  of  Williamstown,  about  1870. 

Ishmael  Tite  and  Abraham  Parsons  made  their  escape 
North  from  a  Virginia  plantation.  The  former  worked  on  the 
Thomas  Ayers  farm  in  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  about  18 15,  and 
the  latter  located  in  Hoosac,  N.  Y.,  with  the  Parsons  family, 
and  both  subsequently  settled  in  White  Oaks.  Abraham  Par- 
sons was  locally  known  to  the  Williams  students  as  "Abe- 
the-Bunter,"  owing  to  a  horny  growth  on  his  head,  proving 
him  equal  to  winning  wagers  at  cracking  grindstones  for 
hard  cheeses. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins  and  the  Rev.  Stephen  West, 
both  pupils  of  Jonathan  Edwards  and  graduates  of  Yale, 
published  a  system  known  as  Hopkinsianism  in  1793,  dif- 
fering in  many  ways  from  Edwards's  system  of  Divine 
Revelation;  while  Thomas  Paine's  Age  of  Reason  was  pub- 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  417 

lished  in  England  the  same  year,  and  influenced  the  Hoosac- 
tonians  greatly.  The  Senior  Class  at  Williams  in  1796, 
after  reading  Paine's  Age  of  Reason,  disputed  the  necessity 
of  immediate  manumission  of  slaves,  and  settled  the  question 


Making  white  oak  baskets  at  the  George  Adams  cabin,  on  west  bank  of 
Broad  Brook  in  White  Oaks  Glen,  opposite  the  Chapel.  Elsie  Or combr eight- 
Parsons,  widow  of  Uncle- Abe-Parsons,  stands  on  the  left,  and  her  sister,  Sarah 
Or  combr  eight- Adams,  wife  of  George  Adams,  sits  on  the  right. 

affirmatively.  Jedidiah  Bushnell  of  the  Class  of  1797  said 
that  the  students  suffered  about  as  much  in  morals  as  in 
the  theory  of  religion ;  a  part  of  them  being  settled  infidels 
advocating  Volney  philosophy. 

Hopkinsianism  was  replaced  at  Williams  by  the  reading  of 
Doddridge's  Lectures  in  1797,  since  Hopkins's  system  was 
believed  to  be  simply  a  revision  of  Edwards's  Divine  Reve- 
lation, which  had  called  forth  universal  controversy  among 
27 


418  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Separate  churches.  Whittier  in  his  Essay,  described  Hop- 
kinsianism  as  "a  system  which  reduced  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation  to  an  ingenious  and  scholastic  form,  and  had 
the  merit  of  bringing  those  doctrines  to  the  test  of  reason 
and  philosophy."  It  proved  the  "  ultra-reafhrmation  of 
Calvinism  against  a  growing  Arminianism"  and  resulted  in 
Unitarianism  after  the  disestablishment  of  Congregation- 
alism, in  1834. 

A  great  awakening  spread  among  the  New  England 
churches  in  1734.  The  "Old  Lights"  followed  Edwards's 
system  and  the  "New  Lights,"  or  Strict  Separates,  adopted 
Whitefield's  system  of  revivals.  The  Sunderland  Church 
of  Massachusetts  on  March  3,  1749,  considered  it  unlawful 
and  dangerous  for  members  of  the  "Old  Lights"  to  worship 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Separates,  who  were  excommunicated 
for  renouncing  communion  of  Christ's  visible  church. 

As  a  result,  in  1754,  the  elders  and  deacons  of  forty  Sepa- 
rate Churches,  including  eight  from  Massachusetts,  twenty- 
four  from  Connecticut,  seven  from  Rhode  Island,  and  one 
from  Long  Island  met  at  Stonington,  Conn.,  to  consider 
Separatism  or  Strict  Congregationalism.  Among  those 
present  of  the  Westfield  Church  of  Massachusetts  may  be 
mentioned  the  Rev.  Jedidiah  Dewey,  and  Deacons  Samuel 
Robinson  and  John  Montague  of  Hardwick  and  Sunderland 
churches,  Mass. ;  Alexander  Miller,  Paul  Park,  Father  Mar- 
shall, and  Father  Palmer  of  Plainfield,  Preston,  Canterbury, 
and  Windsor  Separate  Churches  of  Connecticut,  besides 
possible  representatives  of  the  Warren  Society,  Hopkinton 
Society,  and  Wesleyan-Embury  or  Methodist  Episcopal 
Society,  and  of  the  Quaker,  Shaking  Quaker,  and  Mormon 
societies. 

The  great  revival  of  Strict  Congregationalism  took  place 
in  Litchfield  and  Berkshire  counties  between  1 798  and  1 799. 
At  that  time  there  was  but  a  single  professor  of  religion 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  419 

among  the  students  at  Williams  and  this  remained  the  con- 
dition until  four  converted  Freshmen  arrived  in  180 1.  A 
revival  took  place  at  the  First  Church  of  Williamstown  in 
1805  and  the  Rev.  Seth  Swift  added  over  a  hundred  members 
to  his  records  before  his  death  in  February,  1807. 

The  First  Church  of  Bennington  was  without  a  pastor  at 
the  time  of  the  murder  of  the  Indian,  Stephen  Gordon,  by 
George  Tibbett  and  George  Whitney,  which  occurred  on 
Saturday,  August  8,  1802.  A  great  revival  took  place  in 
1803,  when  "the  degeneracy,  depravity,  infidelity,  and 
heaven-daring  wickedness"  of  the  settlers  of  Hoosac  and 
Walloomsac  valleys  was  a  subject  of  lamentation  to  mission- 
ary Read  of  Chelsea,  Mass. 

Mills's  " Haystack  Prayer- Meeting"  would  not  have  been 
heard  of  except  for  the  cruelties  of  slavery  and  infidelism 
among  the  mocking  Sophomores  and  Seniors  at  Williams. 
The  fearless  Juniors,  Algernon  Sidney  Bailey  and  John 
Nelson,  were  driven  to  Mehitable  Bard  well's  home  in  1805, 
opposite  Simonds's  River  Bend  Tavern,  to  hold  prayers, 
and  they  paved  the  way  for  the  advent  of  Samuel  J.  Mills, 
Jr.,  who  was  converted  while  at  Morris  Academy,  Conn.,  in 
1802,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  came  to  Williams  in  April, 
1806,  to  prepare  for  the  foreign  missionary  field.  A  revival 
took  possession  of  the  Junior  Class  later,  and  Mills,  in  com- 
pany with  James  Richards,  Francis  L.  Robbins,  Harvey 
Loomis,  and  Bryam  Green,  organized  the  first  Saturday 
afternoon  prayer-meeting.  During  August  prayers  were  held 
in  Sloan's  Maple  Grove,  north  of  West  College,  or  southwest 
beneath  the  Willows. 

Bryam  Green,  half  a  century  later,  said  that:  "The  rooms 
occupied  by  Mills  and  Loomis,  Bartlett,  and  myself  .  .  . 
the  heat  of  the  day  .  .  .  the  shower  that  drove  us  from  the 
grove  to  the  haystack;  the  small  number  who  attended  the 
meeting — there  being  no  one  present  from  East  College  .  .  . 


420  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

walking  together  from  the  stack  to  West  College,  are  all 
circumstances  which  appear  fresh  and  plain  to  my  mind." 
The  most  significant  feature  of  that  first  haystack  meeting 
proved  to  be  Mills's  prayer,  to  carry  the  Gospel  among  the 
pagans  of  Asia,  followed  by  his  declaration  that:  "We  can 
do  it  if  we  will." 

The  Saturday  prayer-meetings  continued  in  Sloan's  Grove 
until  late  October  and  were  often  attended  by  other  students, 
including  John  Nelson,  Calvin  Bushnell,  Rufus  Pomeroy, 
Samuel  Ware,  Edwin  Dwight,  Ezra  Fisk,  Luther  Rice,  and 
John  Whittlesey.  The  three  sons  of  Peter  Schuyler  Putnam, 
grandsons  of  Gen.  Israel  Putnam,  were  also  members  of 
Mills's  Class  of  1809,  but  there  is  no  record  that  they  were 
among  the  praying  Juniors. 

On  September  7, 1808,  the  Sol  Orions  Society  was  organized 
in  the  northwest  room  on  the  first  floor  of  East  College. 
Later,  James  Richards  and  Ezra  Fisk  drew  up  a  constitution 
and  rechristened  the  society,  Unitas  Fratum — United  Breth- 
ren. This  was  signed  by  Mills,  Richards,  Fisk,  John  Seward, 
and  Luther  Rice.  The  object  of  the  United  Brethren  was 
to  secure  through  the  persons  of  its  members  missions  to 
the  heathen.  Mills  and  several  others  of  his  class  in  1809, 
after  their  graduation,  spent  several  months  at  Yale,  Mid- 
dlebury,  Dartmouth,  and  Union  colleges,  promoting  interest 
in  Foreign  Missions.  Mills,  on  entering  Andover  Seminary 
in  1 8 10,  found  Richards,  Robbins,  Hall,  and  other  Williams 
students  there,  besides  Adoniram  Judson  from  Brown, 
Samuel  Nott  from  Union,  and  Samuel  Newell  from  Harvard, 
all  of  whom  joined  the  Society  of  United  Brethren  later. 

The  United  Brethren  met  with  the  Andover  Fathers,  Dr. 
Samuel  Spring  and  Dr.  Samuel  Worcester,  at  Professor 
Stuart's  home.  A  petition  was  prepared,  signed  by  Mills, 
Judson,  Nott,  and  Newell,  and  later  presented  before  the 
General  Association  of  Massachusetts  at  Bradford  on  June 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  421 

27,  1 8 10.  This  led  to  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  Foreign  Missions,  consisting  of  five  members 
from  Massachusetts  and  four  from  Connecticut. 

The  timely  mission  legacy  of  Mary  Norris,  widow  of  the 
Andover  Professor  Norris,  enabled  the  first  five  missionaries 
ordained  at  Salem  Tabernacle  in  the  autumn  of  181 1,  includ- 
ing Hall,  Judson,  Nott,  Newell,  and  Rice,  to  set  sail  on  the 
barge  Caravan,  February  19,  18 12,  for  Calcutta,  Bombay. 
Mills  withdrew  his  name  in  order  that  his  friend  Gordon 
Hall  might  precede  him  to  foreign  fields.  The  Andover 
Fathers  also  needed  Mills  to  promote  home  missions  and 
organize  Bible  Societies. 

The  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  missionary  societies 
in  1 8 12  engaged  Mills  and  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Schemerhorn  to 
travel  through  the  Southwestern  United  States  and  found 
missionary  societies.  In  July,  18 14,  Mills  and  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Smith  were  engaged  to  make  a  second  tour  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  arrived  at  New 
Orleans,  just  after  the  defeat  of  the  British  by  General 
Jackson.  In  March,  1815,  Mills  reported  that  there  were 
80,000  families  destitute  of  Bibles  in  the  region,  and  that 
there  was  not  a  single  Bible  to  be  found  for  sale  in  New 
Orleans. 

Rev.  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  was  ordained,  June  21,  18 15,  at 
Newburyport,  Mass.  During  the  following  two  years  he 
resided  chiefly  in  Albany,  Philadelphia,  and  Washington 
organizing  Bible  Societies.  He  founded  the  American  Bible 
Society  in  New  York  City,  May  8,  18 16,  which  was  followed 
by  the  building  of  the  Bible  House  on  the  corner  of  Fourth 
Avenue  and  8th  Street.  At  the  same  time  he  started  the 
first  movement  which  lead  to  the  organization  of  New  York 
City  missions,  and  founded  the  foreign  mission  school  at 
Cornwall,  Conn.  While  Mills  resided  with  the  Rev.  Edward 
Dorr  Griffin,  Pastor  of  Newark  Congregational  Church  of 


422  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

New  Jersey,  he  promoted  the  United  Mission  Society,  and  the 
Rev.  Absalom  Peters  of  Bennington  Centre  Church,  Vt.,  was 
later  elected  first  secretary  in  1825.  The  United  Missions 
are  now  merged  in  the  American  Board  of  Home  Missions, 
supported  by  Congregationalists.  Mills  also  organized  the 
Parsippary  School  for  training  Negro  missionaries,  near 
Newark,  N.  J.,  under  the  synod  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey. 

His  last  great  work  was  that  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  aided  by  Dr.  Finley  at  Washington,  D.  C,  on  Jan- 
uary 1,  181 7.  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr.,  and  Prof.  Ebenezer 
Burgess  of  the  University  of  Vermont  were  chosen  to  explore 
the  coast  of  Africa  and  establish  a  colony.  Upon  setting 
sail  for  England,  November  16,  181 7,  Mills  said:  "We  go  to 
make  freemen  of  slaves.  .  .  .  We  go  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  a  free  and  independent  empire  on  the  coast  of  poor 
degraded  Africa.' ' 

After  a  conference  with  the  London  Colonization  Society, 
founded  in  1792,  Mills  and  Burgess  set  sail,  February  2,  1818, 
and  arrived  at  the  Sierra  Leone  Colony,  March  12th.  That 
settlement  consisted  of  a  thousand  Negro  slaves,  who  had 
been  given  their  freedom  and  transported  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Africa.  The  American  Colony  was  located  under  the 
Liberian  Government,  and  Mills  and  Burgess  received  a 
slave-chain  taken  from  the  neck  of  a  captive  as  a  token  of 
gratitude  from  the  Government.  They  set  sail  on  the  frigate 
Success  for  New  York,  May  22,  181 8.  Mills,  however,  took 
cold  and  died,  June  16th.  He  was  buried  at  sea,  and  thus 
closed  his  brief  yet  heroic  religious  career.  Professor  Bur- 
gess said  of  him:  " He  was  no  bigot.  He  silently  communed 
with  the  Baptist,  prayed  with  the  Methodist,  loved  the 
Moravian,  and  praised  the  Friend. " 

Of  the  five  Juniors  of  the  first  "haystack  prayer-meeting" 
of  August,  1806,  Harvey  Loomis  championed  Home  Missions. 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  423 

He  founded  the  First  Church  of  Bangor  in  the  Maine  Woods, 
during  1 82 1 .  James  Richards  proved  to  be  the  only  member 
to  become  a  foreign  missionary.  He  set  sail  for  Ceylon  in 
October,  1815,  where  he  died  seven  years  later.  Among  the 
first  five  missionaries,  Hall,  Judson,  Nott,  Newell,  and  Rice, 
who  set  sail  for  Calcutta  in  18 12,  Adoniram  Judson  and  Rice 
became  Baptists,  and  joined  the  Serampore  Baptist  Colony, 
founded  by  Corey  and  Thomas  of  London.  Newell,  Nott, 
and  Hall  remained  Congregationalists  and  succeeded  in 
founding  missions  at  Ceylon,  Bombay,  and  Hawaii.  Judson 
died  in  April,  1850,  at  sea,  where  he  was  buried.  He  was  the 
most  successful  of  the  pioneer  missionaries,  and  his  youngest 
son,  the  Rev.  Edward  Judson  of  the  Judson  Memorial 
Baptist  Church  of  New  York,  is  among  the  successful 
missionaries  of  Greater  New  York  to-day. 

During  18 15,  the  foreign  missionary  societies  of  Europe 
and  America  united  and  established  an  institute  at  Basel, 
Switzerland,  for  the  education  of  missionaries.  In  1900, 
381  missionaries  and  1190  native  teachers  had  been  trained 
at  Basel.  The  British  Bible  Society  was  organized  in  1804; 
and  the  Netherland,  Scottish,  Berlin,  and  American  Societies 
organized  later,  distributed  Bibles  printed  in  427  different 
dialects  among  the  missionaries  and  native  teachers. 

Williams  College  as  the  Alma  Mater  of  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Jr., 
"Father  of  American  Foreign  Missions,"  was  "surrounded 
with  peculiar  consecration"  to  the  Rev.  Edward  Dorr 
Griffin  in  1821,  when  he  accepted  the  Presidency  of  the 
College.  Dr.  Cox  said  in  the  Evangelist  Magazine,  August 
14,  1856,  that  Mills  and  his  labors  was  President  Griffin's 
theme  in  private  and  public.  At  Andover  Seminary,  Mills's 
name  became  one  of  religious  power.  Thirty-nine  of  the 
seventy-one  members  of  the  Society  of  United  Brethren  in 
1837  had  given  their  services  either  to  home  or  foreign 
mission  fields. 


424  The  Hoosac  Valley 

During  October,  1825,  seventy-five  of  the  eighty-five  stu- 
dents at  Williams  believed  themselves  Christians.  Prof. 
Albert  Hopkins  records  later  that  an  influx  of  impiety  fol- 
lowed, induced  through  the  arrival  of  several  men  of  corrupt 
principles  and  dissolute  life,  spoiled  before  coming.  They 
were  fitted  only  to  taint  and  corrupt  the  moral  atmosphere 
of  the  college,  and  the  Bible  was  stolen  from  the  desk  and 
worse  than  burnt. 

The  Anti-Slavery  Society  and  Temperance  Society  were 
both  organized  at  Williams  during  1827.  An  ode,  To  the 
Liberated  Slave, l  written  by  one  of  the  students,  appeared  in 
The  American  Advocate,  July  4,  1827.  Between  1826  and 
1828,  William  Lloyd  Garrison  published  The  Free  Press  of 
Newbury  port,  Mass.,  and  The  Journal  of  the  Times  at  Ben- 
nington, Vt.,  advocating  abolition  of  slavery. 

Home  missions  in  English  Hoosac  began  in  1829,  when 
Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  and  Tutor  Simeon  Calhoun  held 
prayer-meetings  in  the  district  schoolhouses  of  White  Oaks, 
and  among  the  fugitive  slaves  who  had  intermarried  with 
the  degenerated  settlers  of  the  region.  During  1832,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Beman  lead  a  revival  in  Williamstown  and  aroused 
the  students  to  a  higher  religious  plane.  Professor  Hopkins 
later  organized  the  Noon  Prayer-Meeting,  of  which  Dr. 
John  Bascom  said  that  it  was  the  most  firm,  persistent,  and 
steadily  influential  means  of  religious  life  that  he  had  ever 
had  occasion  to  observe.  Similar  services  were  subsequently 
adopted  in  other  colleges  throughout  the  world. 

The  site  of  Mills's  "  hay  stack  prayer-meeting"  meanwhile 
had  been  lost  sight  of.  On  April  26,  1852,  Prof.  Albert 
Hopkins  received  a  letter  from  a  Baptist  layman  visiting 
South  Williamstown.  He  enclosed  a  gold  dollar  toward 
marking  the  site  with  a  cedar  stake.  During  the  spring  of 
1855,  the  venerable  Bryam  Green,  the  only  surviving  mem- 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  484-5. 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  425 

ber  of  the  original  five  haystack  students,  arrived  in  Wil- 
liamstown  and  marked  the  site  of  the  historic  haystack  with 
a  stake,  in  company  with  Albert  Hopkins  and  Arthur 
Latham  Perry.  The  Williams  Alumni  Society  purchased 
the  Whitman  farm,  including  Sloan's  Maple  Grove.  Ten 
acres  surrounding  the  site  of  the  haystack  was  set  apart  as 
Mills's  Park  and  beautified  by  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  and  the 
student  members  of  the  Landscape  Garden  Association. 

A  real  haystack  was  restored  to  the  site  of  Mills's  prayer- 
meeting  at  the  semi-centennial  in  1856.  Dr.  Cox  said: 
The  celebration  presented  a  melange  of  jubilation,  so  vari- 
ous, so  spicy,  so  rich,  so  complete,  so  augmenting  in  its 
current  to  the  close,  that  old  men  said  with  wonder  and 
delight:  "We  never  saw  the  like!"  David  Dudley  Field 
rendered  the  opening  address  which  was  followed  by  Prof. 
Albert  Hopkins's  oration  on  the  Birth  of  American  and  Home 
Missions.  Gov.  George  N.  Briggs  of  Massachusetts  offered 
a  short  address.  His  address  was  followed  by  the  reading 
of  a  report  of  Secretary  Rufus  Anderson, J  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.     Anderson  said : 

We  are  met  in  the  New  World.  The  historical  events  we 
commemorate  occurred  within  the  memory  of  some  of  us. 
Nevertheless,  they  are  important,  and  have  and  will  have 
a  place  on  the  historic  page.  And  they  make  this,  rather 
than  any  and  all  other  places,  the  Antioch  of  the  Western 
hemisphere.  .  .  .  Here  the  Holy  Ghost  made  the  visible 
separations  of  men  in  this  country  for  foreign  work  whereto 
he  had  called  them. 

The  odd  Haystack  Monument  was  erected  in  1867.  It 
was  a  gift  of  Senator  Harvey  Rice  of  Cleveland,  0.,  a  member 
of  Mark  Hopkins  Class  of  1824.  He  was  born  in  Conway, 
Mass.,  and  became  the  "Father  of  Public  School  System  of 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  369-70. 


426  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Ohio."  At  the  dedication  of  the  monument,  President 
Hopkins  said :  "For  once  in  the  history  of  the  world  a  prayer- 
meeting  is  commemorated  by  a  monument.  .  .  .  Not  only 
was  a  prayer-meeting  the  birthplace  but  the  cradle  of 
foreign  missions,  and  the  hands  that  rocked  that  cradle  ruled 
the  world." 

Owing  to  the  bigotry  of  the  Protestant  English  Con- 
gregational and  Dutch  Reformed  churches  of  Hoosac  Valley, 
much  prejudice  prevailed  against  the  bigotry  of  the  Irish 
and  French  Roman  Catholic  missions.  Father  McGilligan 
of  Albany  Roman  Catholic  parish  was  the  first  to  visit 
Hoosac  Valley  in  1818.  The  parish  in  1839,  under  the  Rev. 
Father  J.  B.  Daly,  consisted  of  western  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  New  York,  north  to  the 
Hudson-Champlain  divide. 

The  first  mass  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  celebrated 
in  Hoosac  Valley  took  place  at  Bennington  about  1830. 
Old  St.  Francis  De  Sales  Irish  Church  was  dedicated  in  1854, 
and  the  present  St.  Francis  De  Sales  Cathedral  was  opened 
in  1889.  The  French  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  was  organized  in  1880. 

On  the  lower  and  in  central  Hoosac,  mass  was  celebrated 
at  Hoosac  Falls  in  1834,  followed  by  the  dedication  of  St. 
Mary's  Church  in  1851.  The  Augustian  Fathers  built  the 
present  church  in  1871,  with  a  branch  mission  chapel  at 
Buskirk  Bridge.  Mass  was  celebrated  at  Schaghticoke  in 
1835  and  St.  John's  Catholic  Church  was  dedicated  in 
1842  with  missions  in  Valley  Falls  and  Johnson ville  of  Pitts- 
town.  St.  Patrick's  Church  was  founded  in  Old  Cambridge 
in  1839. 

Mass  was  celebrated  on  the  upper  Hoosac  in  the  Union 
above  North  Adams  during  1847,  and  St.  Francis  Irish 
Catholic  Church  was  dedicated  in  1869,  with  branch  mission 
chapels    in    Adams,    Williamstown,    and     Greylock.     The 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  427 

French  Catholic  Cathedral,  Notre  Dame,  was  organized  in 
1 87 1  and  dedicated  in  1888,  with  branch  mission  chapels  in 
Adams  and  Williamstown.  St.  Stanislaus  Kodska's  Polish 
Catholic  Church  was  recently  organized  at  Adams  and  the 
Russian  Jewish  Synagogue  at  North  Adams  in  1892,  with 
branches  of  the  latter  at  Hoosac  Falls  and  Bennington. 
To-day  the  mingling  chimes  of  the  progressive  creeds  of 
Christendom  are  heard  echoing  Peace  and  Good  Will  through 
the  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters. 

Christ's  Church  at  White  Oaks  is  connected  with  Wil- 
liams College  home  missions.  It  was  founded  by  Prof. 
Albert  Hopkins,  February  5,  1865,  and  dedicated,  October 
25,  1866.  The  beautifying  of  the  grounds  about  White 
Oaks  Chapel,  together  with  the  care  of  Mission  Park  fell 
to  Dr.  John  Bascom  after  the  death  of  Albert  Hopkins. 
The  Williams  College  Cemetery  in  Mission  Park  contains 
the  tombs  and  memorial  monuments  of  several  presidents, 
including  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  Paul  Ansel  Chadbourne, 
Mark  Hopkins,  and  Henry  Hopkins;  besides  several  pro- 
fessors: Albert  Hopkins,  Sanborn  Tenny,  Arthur  Latham 
Perry,  Cyrus  Dodd,  Luther  Dana  Woodbridge,  and  others. 
The  grave  of  Edward  Payson  Hopkins,  the  only  child  of 
Prof.  Albert  Hopkins,  who  fell  during  the  Battle  of  Ashland, 
Virginia,  while  serving  under  General  Sheridan,  lies  near 
his  parents.  Dr.  John  Bascom  says  of  Albert  Hopkins: 
"Wherever  else  the  Alumni  of  Williams  College  may  wander 
for  great  men,  their  eyes  will  turn  lovingly  to  him  as  their 
type  of  Christian  Manhood." 

The  greatest  event  between  the  semi-centennial  in  1856 
and  the  centennial  of  foreign  missions  in  1906  was  the  Civil 
War.  The  first  company  to  answer  President  Lincoln's 
call  for  75,000  volunteers  on  April  14,  1861  proved  to  be  one 
composed  of  780  Green  Mountain  Boys  under  Col.  John 
W,  Phelps   and    Lieut, -Col,  Peter   T,    Washburn,     They 


428  The  Hoosac  Valley 

arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Va.,  May  13th,  followed  by 
five  other  volunteer  Vermont  regiments  on  May  1 1  th.  These 
regiments  figured  in  the  battles  of  Big  Bethel,  June  10th, 
and  Bull  Run,  July  21st.  Gen.  George  J.  Stannard  of  the 
26.  Vermont  Brigade  repulsed  one  of  the  severest  charges  in 
the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  A  monument  of  Vermont  granite 
now  marks  the  site  of  Stannard's  Victory.  The  17th  Ver- 
mont Regiment  during  the  Carnage  of  the  Wilderness  also 
faced  a  bloody  battle  each  day  until  the  Fall  of  Richmond, 
April  3,  1865,  and  the  final  surrender  of  General  Lee  to 
General  Grant  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  April  9th, 
following.  Historian  Benedict1  asserts  that:  "The  bril- 
liancy and  service  rendered  by  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  is 
denied  by  no  student  of  history."  Impartial  judges  admit 
it  to  be  remarkable  that  troops  of  one  State,  constituting 
but  an  eighteenth  part  of  the  Northern  Army,  should  have 
had  a  leading  part  in  all  the  decisive  battles  of  the  Civil  War. 

At  the  Centennial  of  American  Foreign  Missions,  cele- 
brated in  October,  1906,  the  Rev.  John  Hopkins  Denison 
said:  "There  is  sweeping  over  the  world  to-day  a  great  wave 
of  international  justice.  No  longer  is  the  slave  trade  per- 
mitted to  be  carried  on  unmolested  in  any  part  of  the  world." 

A  century  and  a  half  has  passed  since  the  burning  of  the 
St.  Francis  Indian  town  by  Col.  Robert  Rogers  in  Canada 
during  1 759.  The  Mahican  and  Mohawk  warriors  of  the  East 
are  now  merged  with  the  Sioux  Nation,  comprising  30,000 
Indians.  Their  annual  convocations  are  headed  by  native 
priests  of  the  Romanist,  Episcopal,  Congregational,  and 
Presbyterian  missions,  followed  by  16,000  Christian  Sioux, 
scattered  over  a  territory  of  six  hundred  miles  in  extent. 

To-day  the  royal  Mahican  warriors  of  Stockbridge  live 
in  Wisconsin;  the  Hoosacs.  including  the  Schaghticokes 
and  St.  Francis  kindred,  are  in  Nebraska  and  the  Dakotas 

1  Vermont  in  the  Civil  War. 


•5   3 

<3 


CQ 


^~ 


429 


430  The  Hoosac  Valley 

mingling  with  their  old  Mingo  enemies  of  the  Huron-Mohawk 
Confederacy.  Over  13,000  are  attracted  by  the  shining 
images  and  ritual  of  the  Romanist  and  Episcopal  missions, 
while  3000  are  members  of  the  Congregational  and  Presby- 
terian missions.  Each  squaw  of  the  latter  churches  donates 
her  annual  dollar  from  her  moccasin  work,  and  requests  that 
part  be  spent  for  the  education  of  the  "long-haired  heathen" 
of  China. 

According  to  statistics,  in  1871  there  were  237,000  Indians 
in  America;  in  1890  there  were  175,000;  and  in  1905  they 
had  decreased  to  150,000,  although  to-day  there  is  a  steady 
increase  of  the  vanishing  race  on  their  reservations. 

At  the  Centennial  celebration  of  the  Birth  of  American 
Foreign  Missions,  the  Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis  said: 

It  is  not  merely  an  American  event,  but  meetings  com- 
memorative of  the  Birth  of  Missions  are  being  held  in 
the  great  cities  all  over  the  world.  .  .  .  Great  events,  have 
taken  place  in  the  political  life  in  every  country  within  the 
century.  .  .  .  Not  less  than  50,000,000  souls  have  been  lifted 
from  slavery  and  serfdom.  One  of  the  sublimest  movements 
in  the  world  rose  in  Williamstown,  on  the  Hoosac  in  1806, 
celebrated  to-day  on  five  continents. 

The  Rev.  Edward  Judson,  the  youngest  son  of  the  mission- 
ary Adoniram  Judson  stated  that:  "A  nation  shall  be  con- 
verted in  a  day"  when  the  Empire  of  China  accepts 
Christianity.     A  century  of  missions ■  becomes  a  vast  subject 

1  The  Rev.  J.  S.  Dennis  in  a  Centennial  Survey  of  Foreign  Missions,  published 
in  1900,  included  both  Romanist  and  Protestant  societies  and  reported  as 
follows:  "American  Continent  128;  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  154;  Denmark 
4;  Finland  2;  France  6;  Germany  24;  Holland  22;  Norway  10;  Sweden  10; 
Switzerland  4;  Asia  117;  Australasia  and  Oceania  35;  Africa  42;  making  a  total 
of  558  mission  societies,  represented  by  15,000  missionaries  and  77,000  native 
teachers.  In  1900,  the  adherents  of  the  Protestant  missions  in  America, 
including  Greenland  and  West  Indies,  was  1,115,000;  Asia,  inclusive  of  Japan 


Slavery  and  Birthplace  of  American  Missions  431 

when  traced  to  Mills's  Haystack  Prayer-meeting.  Around 
the  hallowed  haystack  shrine  have  assembled  missionaries 
bearing  the  cross  of  all  nations,  to  offer  praise  for  the  birth 
of  foreign  missions. 

A  shout  of  joy  from  the  redeemed  is  sent; 

Ten  thousand  hamlets  swell  the  hymn  of  thanks; 

A  glory  clothes  the  land  from  sea  to  sea, 

For  the  great  world  and  all  its  coasts  are  free. 1 

and  Malaysia,  1,700,000;  Africa,  including  Madagascar,  1,000,000;  Australasia 
and  Oceania,  300,000.  Among  the  total  4,115,000  adherents  were  recorded 
1,318,000  communicants." 

1  Bryant,  Death  of  Slavery,  1866. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

INDUSTRIAL  INDEPENDENCE  DURING  STAGE-COACH  DAYS 

i 774-1 874 

Nor  will  bad  news,  revolutions,  and  anarchy  be  able  to  obliterate  that  love  of 
prosperity  and  that  spirit  of  enterprise  which  seem  to  be  the  distinctive  character- 
istics of  the  American  race. — De  Tocqueville,   Union  Americaine. 

President  Washington's  Horseback  Ride  to  Bennington — Steamboat  Navi- 
gation— Stone  Post  Road  and  First  Stage-Coaches — Industrial  Inde- 
pendence— Federal  Constitution — Flax,  Cotton,  Woollen,  Iron,  and 
Mechanical  Industries — Passing  of  Stage-Coach  and  Mountain  Inns. 

THE  mode  of  travel  through  Hoosac  Valley  during  the 
good  old  manorial  days  was  on  horseback  or  springless 
wagon  and  ox-sled.  The  roads  led  over  the  rough  hills  and 
were  blocked  in  the  lowlands  by  gates  placed  at  intervals, 
until  long  after  the  opening  of  the  Stone  Post  Road  between 
Albany  and  Bennington  in  1791. 

President  George  Washington  and  Congressman  William 
Smith,  on  August  30,  1790,  mounted  on  horseback,  rode 
from  New  Lebanon  Springs,  N.  Y.,  to  Bennington  Centre  to 
consult  with  Gov.  Moses  Robinson  about  Vermont's  final 
admittance  to  the  Federal  Union.  They  breakfasted  at 
Gen.  Samuel  Sloan's  Tavern  in  South  Williamstown,  Mass., 
and  as  they  rode  over  Stone  Hill,  they  beheld  a  picturesque 
view  of  the  tower  of  the  Free  School  of  Williamstown  in  the 
distance.  Congressman  Smith  in  a  letter  published  a  cen- 
tury later  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post  described  their 
romantic  ride  beneath  the  "Weeping  Rocks,"  overhanging 
the  Hoosac  River  in  the  Pownal  intervale  of  Vermont.     As 

432 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days       433 

they  ascended  the  Hill  Road  to  Pownal  Centre,  they  were 
enchanted  with  the  scene  of  the  rich  lowlands  below  them  in 
the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the  Taconacs.     Dr.  John  Bascom  of 


The  Weeping  Rock  Road  along  the  ancient  Hoosac  and  Mohawk  War -Trail 
in  Pownal  Pass,  near  Lovatt's  Burial-ground. 

Williams  College  considers  the  scene  the  most  beautiful  in 
New  England  to-day. 

The  President's  party  was  welcomed  at  Councillor  Isaac 
Tichenor's  mansion  at  Bennington  Centre  on  Mount 
Anthony  Road,  west  of  the  Walloomsac  Inn,  and  their  host 
later  conducted  them  to  Governor  Robinson's  home.  Con- 
gressman Smith  considered  Bennington  Centre  a  very  pretty 
village,  located  at  the  foot  of  a  high  hill  in  the  shape  of  a 
cone.  The  hill  referred  to  is  Mount  Anthony,  still  covered 
with  maple  trees,  and  he  was  charmed  with  the  aspect  of 
the  fertile  Walloomsac  meadowlands. 
28 


434  The  Hoosac  Valley 

On  September  7th,  the  Presidential  party  left  New  Leba- 
non Springs  in  a  springless  wagon,  bound  for  Albany  by 
way  of  Kinderhook  Road,  through  Lake  Queechy's  sandy 
country,  made  famous  by  Susan  Warner's  Queechy;  and  on 
Thursday,  September  9th,  set  sail  on  an  Albany  sloop  for 
New  York,  although,  owing  to  contrary  winds  and  tides, 
they  did  not  reach  that  City  until  six  days  later. 

Steamboats  were  perfected  by  slow  process  after  John 
Fitch's  invention,  exhibited  at  Philadelphia  in  1787.  James 
Rumsey's  model  was  exhibited  the  same  year  on  the  Potomac 
River;  and  Samuel  Morey  of  Fairlee,  Vt.,  successfully  opera- 
ted his  boat  on  the  Connecticut  and  on  Morey  Lake  in  1795. 
Robert  Fulton  and  Robert  Livingston  were  in  Europe  study- 
ing steam  navigation  in  1795.  They  later  studied  Morey 's 
steamboat  model,  and  in  1807,  Fulton  built  and  successfully 
operated  the  Clermont,  the  first  steamboat  on  the  Hudson. 

The  Stone  Post  Road  between  Albany  and  Bennington 
Centre  over  the  Pittstown  Hills  was  formally  opened,  March 
25,  1 79 1,  on  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Bennington.  This  line  proved  to  be  the  first  stretch  of 
macadamized  road  built  in  this  country,  and  was  followed 
by  several  companies,  which  organized  to  construct  turn- 
pikes and  toll-bridges  in  all  directions  from  Albany. 

The  Albany  and  Northampton  Turnpike,  leading  east- 
ward over  Cherry  Plains  of  Rensselaerwyck  through  Berlin 
Pass  to  Williamstown,  thence  over  the  Hoosac  Mountain 
to  the  Connecticut  Valley,  was  completed  in  November, 
1793.  During  1798,  the  rattling  U.  S.  Mail  wagon  and  tin 
horn  delivery  began  regular  trips  through  Williamstown. 
During  January,  1799,  the  Great  Western  Turnpike  Com- 
pany was  incorporated  and  empowered  to  build  stone  roads 
from  Albany  up  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys  to  Schuy- 
lerville,  Whitehall,  and  Schenectady.  In  1820,  Congress 
authorized  the  passenger  stage-coach  to  convey  the  U.  S. 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days      435 

Mail    between    Albany,    Bennington,    Williamstown,    and 
Boston. 

Inventive  geniuses  set  to  work  about  1768  to  turn  out 
machinery  to  manufacture  linen,  woollen  goods,  and  imple- 
ments for  agriculture  in  the  Colonies.     During  July,  1 774, 


The  Old  Stone  Post  Road  east  of  White  House  Bridge  near  Hoosac  Four  Corners^ 
New  York.     This  stretch  of  road  is  mentioned  in  Owen  Wister's  famous 
tale  of  "The  Virginians." 

Dr.  Jacob  Meack,  Robert  Hawkins,  and  Elisha  Baker  of 
Williamstown  were  chosen  delegates  to  attend  the  Berkshire 
County  Congress  at  Old  Stockbridge  to  consider  the  indus- 
trial independence  of  British  manufactures. 

Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Niles  of  Connecticut  during  1775 
invented  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of  wire  from  bar 
iron  by  water  power.  Wire  was  used  to  make  wool-cards 
and  was  one  of  the  forbidden  articles  of  manufacture  in  the 


436  The  Hoosac  Valley 

American  Colonies.  The  Hartford  Legislature,  however, 
voted  young  Niles,  a  loan  of  £100  for  a  term  of  years 
without  interest,  and  encouraged  his  manufactures  until 
1785,  after  which  he  located  on  his  West  Fairlee  farm  in 
Vermont. 

Patroon  Philip  Schuyler  in  1768  opened  a  line  of  transpor- 
tation between  Schuylerville  Mills  and  Albany.  He  engaged 
several  hundred  men  the  year  round  at  mills,  on  boats,  and 
Fish  Creek  weirs.  Myriads  of  herring  swarmed  up  to  Lake 
Saratoga  in  the  spring,  and  shad  and  sturgeon  were  abundant 
in  the  Hudson.  The  Hoosac  farmers  made  annual  excur- 
sions to  Fish  Creek  and  with  the  aid  of  scoop-nets  literally 
loaded  their  wagons  with  enough  herring  to  salt  down  a 
year's  supply. 

Every  farmer  up  to  the  opening  of  the  War  of  18 12  also 
sowed  a  small  flax-field  a  few  rods  square  and  produced  his 
household  linen.  The  flax  was  allowed  to  rot  slightly  in  the 
field,  after  which  it  was  prepared  by  a  hand-break,  or  swingle- 
knife,  for  the  hetchel.  This  rough  machine  separated  the 
tow  from  the  fine  flax,  the  latter  being  wound  on  a  distaff 
and  spun  into  threads  on  the  little  wheel,  and  the  former  was 
spun  into  warp  and  tow  on  the  large  wheel  used  for  men's 
clothing  and  sacking  for  grain. 

Philip  Schuyler  engaged  several  Scotch-Irish  artisans  from 
Glasgow,  Londonderry,  and  Dublin  in  his  famous  linen-mill 
at  Schuylerville,  and  described  the  mechanical  arts  of  the 
machinery  employed,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Arts  in  America.  According  to  Lossing's 
Life  of  Philip  Schuyler,  he  was  awarded  a  medal  and  a  vote 
of  thanks  for  executing  so  useful  a  design  in  the  Province. 
After  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  United  States, 
July  4,  1776,  premiums  were  offered  for  the  best  woollen 
cloth  manufactured  in  this  country.  The  first  prize  of  $40 
was  won  by  Scott  Woodward  of  Old  Cambridge,  N.  Y.; 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days      437 

and  the  second  prize  of  $35  was  awarded  to  Adam  Cleveland 
of  Salem,  N.  Y. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolution  in  1783,  five  mill-centres 
rose  about  the  sites  of  the  old  forts  in  Hoosac  Valley :  at 
Hart's  Falls  in  Schaghticoke ;  at  Pumpkin  Hook  in  Cam- 
bridge; at  Falls  Quequick,  now  Hoosac  Falls,  N.  Y.;  at 
Bennington  on  the  upper  Walloomsac  in  Vermont ;  at  North 
Adams  and  Adams  on  the  upper  Hoosac  in  Massachusetts. 

Several  proprietors  of  the  upper  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac 
towns  pushed  down  the  Valley  to  Hoosac,  Cambridge, 
Schaghticoke,  Mechanicsville,  Lansingburgh,  and  Cohoes 
mill-centres.  Jethro  Wood,  son  of  the  New  Bedford  Quaker, 
Isaac  Wood  of  White  Creek,  patented  the  first  iron  mould- 
board  plough  in  this  country,  which  was  later  manufactured 
by  his  kinsman,  Walter  Abbott  Wood,  at  Hoosac  Falls.  The 
McNamaras'  shop,  known  as  March's  factory  on  the  Upper 
Falls  of  the  Walloomsac,  turned  out  scythes  and  grain-cradles, 
until  the  time  when  Walter  Abbott  Wood  manufactured 
mowing  and  reaping  machines,  after  which  the  scythe  mill 
was  converted  into  Orr's  wall-paper  mill. 

In  Old  Cambridge,  at  an  early  day,  John  Rhodes  opened 
the  first  clothing-mill;  Stephen  Kellogg  ran  a  flax-mill; 
Leonard  Darby,  a  gun-shop;  Glass,  a  clock  and  comb  fac- 
tory; John  Allen,  a  hat  factory;  Sylvanus  Tabor,  a  mitten 
factory;  Paul  Cornell,  George  Mann,  Noah  and  Robert 
Wilcox  all  operated  trip-hammers  and  turned  out  scythes 
and  agricultural  implements;  Edward  Hurd  manufactured 
axes;  Aaron  Vail  ran  a  rope  factory;  Garner  Wilkinson 
turned  out  scythe- snaths  and  handles;  and  Edward  Aiken 
later  opened  a  wagon  and  coach  factory. 

At  the  opening  of  1800  an  extensive  wheat  and  flax 
industry  was  carried  on  in  Cambridge  by  Frank  Crocker. 
He  also  opened  a  distillery  for  the  manufacture  of  brandy 
at  Pumpkin  Hook,  and  Jacob  and  Benjamin  Merritt  became 


438  The  Hoosac  Valley 

the  leading  merchants  near  the  Forks  of  White  Creek  Road. 
Their  annual  trade  in  wheat,  hauled  to  Troy  warehouses, 
netted  them  $50,000.  Palmer  and  Shrive  ran  a  flax-mill 
near  St.  Croix  Bridge,  and  other  mills  were  built  in  Nepimore 
and  Mapleton  hamlets,  and  in  the  Hoosac  and  Little  Hoosac 
passes  of  Pownal,  Petersburgh,  and  Berlin. 

The  Tomhannac  and  Owl  Kill  intervales  of  Pittstown  and 
Cambridge,  owing  to  the  olive  shale  soil,  produced  a  rich 
yield  of  flax,  rye,  and  flower  seeds.  In  an  analysis  of  the 
Pittstown  clay  soil  is  found  an  excess  of  potash  mica.  Rye 
and  flax  straw  contains  about  223^  %  potash.  The 
natural  affinity  of  the  soil  provided  flax  enough  to  keep 
seventeen  flax-mills  busy  until  the  introduction  of  the  cotton 
industry  in  18 10,  and  the  region  is  famous  for  its  rye  fields, 
flower  seed,  and  gladiolus  bulb  culture  to-day.  The  fine 
grade  of  red,  brown,  yellow,  and  purple  ochres  of  the  olive 
shale  region  of  Hoosac  Lake  District,  led  to  the  founding  of 
the  Grafton  paint  and  putty  mills  about  half  a  century  ago. 

The  vegetable  and  flower-seed  culture  of  Old  Cambridge 
N.  Y.,  was  founded  between  18 16  and  1836  by  Simeon 
Crosby  and  Sons,  who  in  1844  sold  their  interest  to  R.  Niles 
Rice  and  Son,  now  one  of  the  largest  business  enterprises 
in  the  Owl  Kill  Valley.  The  famous  gladiolus  fields  of 
Meadowvale  Farm  in  Berlin,  N.  Y.,  on  the  upper  Little 
Hoosac  were  established  by  Arthur  Cowee  about  fifteen 
years  ago.  To-day  over  15,000  varieties  of  this  twentieth- 
century  flower  are  displayed  in  Cowee's  hundred-acre  fields, 
which  are  considered  the  finest  in  the  world. 

The  Hart's  Falls  mill-centre  in  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.,  was 
founded  before  the  opening  of  1800  by  the  miller,  Hart,  near 
the  "Big-Eddy."  The  Boston  capitalists,  Benjamin  and 
Charles  Joy,  opened  a  linen-duck  mill,  wool-carding  and 
clothing  manufactory  on  the  north  bank  of  the  "Big-Eddy" 
of  the  Hoosac  in  1800.     Four  years  later,  they  advertised 


439 


440 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


a  machine  for  picking,  greasing,  and  carding  wool  at  eight 
cents  a  pound.  The  Lewis  Pickett  paper-mill  subsequently 
occupied  the  site  of  Joy's  mills.  On  the  south  bank  of  the 
"Big-Eddy,"  below  the  present  highway  bridge,  George 
Brown  and  his  son-in-law,  Giles  Slocum,  built  a  stone 
machine-shop  sometime  previous  to  1800. 

The  first  four  cotton-mills  operated  in  this  country  were 


The  Seed  Works  of  Cambridge,  New  York,  Owl  Kill  Valley,  owned  by  Jerome 
B.  Rice  Seed  Company. 


built  in  Hoosac  Valley  before  the  War  of  1812.  During 
18 10,  Brown  and  Slocum  converted  their  stone  machine- 
shop  at  Schaghticoke  into  Congdon's  cotton-mill.  The 
ruined  walls  of  the  cotton-mill  were  blasted  away  during  the 
construction  of  the  present  dam  above  the  "Big-Eddy"  on 
the  Hoosac  in  1908. 

Gordon's  cotton-mill  on  the  Upper  Falls  of  the  Walloom- 
sac  was  built  a  few  months  after  Congdon's  cotton-mill, 
his  machinery  being  made  by  Leonard  Darby  in  his  gun- 
shop  at  Pumpkin  Hook  in  White  Creek,  N.  Y.    The  "Old 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days       441 

Brick  Cotton-Mill"  in  North  Adams,  Mass.,  and  the  "Old 
Doty  Cotton-Mill"  in  North  Bennington,  Vt.,  were  built  in 
1 8 11.  The  Lowell  cotton-mill  in  Massachusetts  was  the 
fifth  in  this  country.  The  machinery  was  made  by  the 
machinist,  Talbot,  who  learned  his  trade  at  Leonard  Darby's 
Pumpkin  Hook  gun-shop  in  White  Creek,  N.  Y.  Talbot 
later  became  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts. 

At  Hart's  Falls  in  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.,  in  18 16,  Waddell 
and  Shepherd  built  their  large  cotton-mill  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  "Big-Eddy";  and  about  the  same  time  Rensselaer's 
woollen-  and  cotton-mills  were  erected  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  "Big-Eddy"  below  the  site  of  the  present  cable-mill. 
They  burned  in  1836.  In  Old  Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  the  miller, 
Aiken,  converted  his  frame  grist-mill  into  the  Washington 
County  cotton-mill  for  the  manufacture  of  sheeting;  Gor- 
don's cotton-  and  woollen-mills  on  the  Upper  Falls  of  the 
Walloomsac  were  converted  about  1869  into  Stephen  and 
Thompson  wall-paper  factory.  On  the  Lower  Falls  of  the 
Walloomsac  McNamara  operated  the  woollen  and  flannel- 
mills,  subsequently  known  as  Burnham's  "Empire  Shawl- 
Mills."  Spaulding,  during  the  Civil  War,  turned  out 
uniforms  for  the  Union  soldiers,  and  later  the  plant  became 
Carpenter's  woollen-mill.     It  burned  in  1876. 

The  historic  St.  Croix  flouring-mill,  of  Dutch  Hoosac, 
built  by  the  Tory,  Van  Schaick,  in  1776,  was  owned  by  John 
Burck  in  1876.  It  burned,  October  24,  1896,  and  the  ancient 
mill-stone,  grinding  wheat  and  corn  in  August,  1777,  still 
lies  in  ruins  in  the  cellar  of  the  present  Dublin  mill  on  its 
site. 

The  finest  mill-power  in  New  England  is  found  on  the 
upper  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac.    The  Ashawaghsac1 — South 
Branch  of  the  Hoosac — rises  on  Allen  Brook  in  southern 
Lanesboro,  Mass.,  originally  known  as  Richfield  in  1742 ;  set- 
tee Note  1 ,  at  end  of  volume. 


442  The  Hoosac  Valley 

tied  by  Englishmen  from  Framingham,  Eng. ;  and  later  known 
as  Framingham — the  stranger's  home — until  incorporated 
Lanesboro  in  Governor  Bernard's  honor  to  the  wife  of  the 
Earl  of  Lanesborough,  in  1760.  The  town  is  famous  for 
its  glass-sand,  for  the  Berkshire  Glass  Works  founded  in 
1853,  and  for  "Constitution  Hill" — the  home  of  plain 
Jonathan  Smith,  whose  convincing  speech  brought  about 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  at  the  Massachu-" 
setts  Convention  in  1788.  The  town  is  also  the  birthplace 
of  Henry  Shaw,  the  philosophical  humorist,  "Josh  Billings,' ' 
whose  grave  is  marked  in  the  village  cemetery.  Dalton, 
the  neighboring  town,  is  famous  for  its  century-old  paper- 
mills.  All  the  paper  used  to-day  in  the  production  of 
United  States  currency  is  manufactured  in  that  town. 

Cheshire,  lying  between  Lanesboro  and  Adams,  was 
settled  by  Warwickshire  men  from  England  in  1 766,  includ- 
ing John  Tibbits  from  Warwick,  R.  I.,  father  of  Senator 
George  Tibbits  of  Hoosac,  N.  Y.,  the  promoter  of  the  famous 
Erie  Canal  and  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad.  Most  of  the 
Providence,  Warwick,  and  Kingston  Quakers  from  Rhode 
Island  who  settled  in  Lanesboro  and  Cheshire,  later  pushed 
on  to  Adams,  Williamstown,  Hoosac,  Cambridge,  and 
Schaghticoke.  Cheshire  in  1801  produced  200,000  pounds 
of  cheese  and  became  famous  for  the  manufacture  of  the 
"Big  Cheese"  shipped  to  President  Thomas  Jefferson  by  the 
Federalists.  The  town  is  also  noted  for  its  glass-sand,  lime- 
kilns, and  iron-ore. 

The  North  Adams  mill-centre  began  in  1793  when  Capt. 
Jeremiah  Colgrove  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  built  a  grist-mill 
and  saw-mill  on  the  site  of  Ephraim  Williams's  mills,  above 
the  junction  of  the  Ashawaghsac  with  the  Mayoonsac. '  At 
that  time  Captain  Colgrove  prophesied  that  "Slab  City" — 
now  North  Adams  would  become  the  metropolis  of  the 

*  See  Note  1,  at  end  of  volume. 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days      443 

Hoosac  Valley.  The  following  year  the  blacksmith,  Joseph 
Darby,  from  Salisbury,  Conn.,  opened  a  shop  two  rods  below 
the  Notch  Brook  Bridge  in  Braytonville.  He  introduced 
the  first  trip-hammer  in  English  Hoosac,  and  hauled  his 
wrought  iron  from  Connecticut  until  iron-ore  was  mined  at 
the  foot  of  Old  Greylock  and  smelted  at  Beckley's  furnace 
on  Furnace  Hill.  Darby  did  a  thriving  business,  manufac- 
turing axes,  saws,  scythes,  hoes,  steel-yards,  cow-bells,  and 
sheep-bells  for  migrating  settlers  passing  over  Raven  Rock 
Road  through  the  Hoosac  Pass  to  Lake  Champlain  and 
thence  to  Ohio  Valley.  Captain  Colgrove  during  1795 
opened  the  second  blacksmith  shop  in  the  town  near  his 
Ashawaghsac  Mills. 

During  1792,  David  Estes,  another  machinist  from  Rhode 
Island,  purchased  mill-lot  25,  the  site  of  the  Mayoonsac  saw- 
mill of  1756,  for  $150.  He  hauled  his  wrought  iron  and 
tools  in  a  one-horse  wagon  and  manufactured  nails.  He 
held  a  large  sale  of  shingle  nails  at  seventeen  cents  a  pound 
between  North  Adams,  Greenfield,  and  Brattleboro. 

Captain  Colgrove  and  his  brother-in-law,  Elisha  Brown, 
in  1 80 1  introduced  machinery  for  carding  wool,  cloth-fulling, 
and  dressing  in  their  two-storied  grist-mill,  now  the  site  of 
the  Phcenix  Grist-Mill.  At  the  same  time  David  Estes 
built  a  wool-carding  and  cloth-dressing  mill  on  his  lot  and 
established  competition  with  Colgrove  and  Brown.  Roger 
Wing  was  among  the  first  cloth-dressers  engaged  in  the  town 
and  subsequently  opened  a  clothing  store  in  the  Old  Black 
Tavern  block.  The  cloth-dressing  business  began  at  the 
same  time  in  central  Hoosac.  The  machinist,  Seth  Parsons 
of  Falls  Quequick,  now  Hoosac  Falls,  invented  a  shearing- 
machine  which  accomplished  the  work  of  ten  men.  He  sold 
it  for  $30  and  Colgrove  and  Brown  introduced  it  in  their 
North  Adams  mill. 

The  manufacture  of  linseed-oil  from  flax-seed  was  begun 


444  The  Hoosac  Valley 

simultaneously  at  Falls  Quequick,  N.  Y.,  by  Jehiel  Fox;  at 
North  Adams,  Mass.,  by  Colgrove  and  Brown;  and  at 
Bennington,  Vt.,  by  Olin  and  Calvin.  The  Bennington 
oil-mill  was  torn  down  in  1894  to  make  room  for  Rockwood's 
knitting-mill.  The  latter  town  was  a  famous  market  for  all 
the  flax-seed  raised  in  Hoosac  and  Cambridge.  The  linseed- 
oil  and  oil-cake  were  hauled  over  the  Green  Mountains  and 
thence  shipped  down  the  Connecticut  to  Boston  and  Hart- 
ford. Colgrove  and  Brown  hauled  their  North  Adams  pro- 
ducts by  four-horse  teams  to  Troy,  and  it  was  shipped  to 
Albany  and  New  York. 

The  historic  "  Brick  Cotton  Factory "  of  North  Adams 
was  built  in  181 1  by  the  first  corporation  in  Hoosac  Valley, 
including  Capt.  Jeremiah  Colgrove,  Col.  John  Waterman 
from  Williamstown,  Benjamin  Sibley,  and  others.  It  stood 
at  the  foot  of  Centre  Street,  on  the  west  side  of  Marshall 
Street,  and  was  burned  in  i860.  Between  1790  and  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  War  in  i860,  the  growth  of  cotton  in 
the  United  States  increased  from  250,000  to  2,000,000,000 
pounds  annually.  Thousands  of  bales  were  shipped  to 
the  Troy  warehouses  and  hauled  by  four-horse  teams  to 
Schaghticoke,  Hoosac,  Bennington,  and  North  Adams. 
The  pioneer  cotton  industry  of  Adams  was  established  in 
1826  by  Daniel  Anthony,  the  father  of  the  late  Susan  B. 
Anthony.  His  cotton-mill  contained  twenty-six  looms, 
operated  until  his  removal  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  about  1845. 

The  iron  furnaces  of  North  Adams  were  among  the  pioneer 
works  of  the  country,  including  Beckley's  furnace  on  the 
east  bank  of  Ashawaghsac,  and  another  on  Furnace  Hill. 
Ore  was  mined  at  the  foot  of  Greylock  from  which  the  plates 
of  the  original  iron-clad  Monitor  were  made.  During  1799, 
Dickinson  and  Brown  operated  an  iron  forge  between  Eagle 
Street  Bridge  and  Union  Bridge;  and  Otis  Hodge  later 
operated  an  iron  furnace  on  the  site  of  the  Windsor  Print 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days       445 

Works.  Giles  Tinker  in  181 1  opened  a  machine-shop  in  the 
"Old  Yellow  Building,"  near  Black  Tavern. 

The  pioneer  machinists  in  this  country  include  in  their 
order  the  names  of  George  Brown  and  Giles  Slocum  at  Hart's 
Falls  in  Schaghticoke ;  Stephen  Kellogg  and  Leonard  Darby 
at  Pumpkin  Hook  in  White  Creek;  Joseph  Dorr,  Seth  Par- 
sons, Joseph  Gordon,  and  Walter  Abbott  Wood  at  Hoosac 
Falls  in  Hoosac,  N.  Y.;  George  Keith,  Moses  Sage,  and  Olin 
Scott  at  Bennington  Vt. ;  Joseph  Darby,  David  Estes,  Giles 
Tinker,  and  James  Hunter,  Sr.,  at  North  Adams,  Mass. 
The  Scotchman,  Joseph  Gordon  from  Glasgow,  located  on  the 
lower  Hoosac,  and  Giles  Tinker  on  upper  Hoosac,  were  the 
first  artisans  to  introduce  the  mechanical  arts  of  the  power- 
loom  for  the  manufacture  of  cloth  in  this  country.  The 
latter  in  March,  1822,  made  the  first  twenty  power-looms  for 
the  manufacture  of  satinet  at  Blackington's  mill,  and  the 
first  twenty  power-looms  for  printing  wide  print  cloth  at 
Bray  ton's  mill  in  North  Adams  in  1831. 

The  iron  works  on  the  upper  Walloomsac,  the  first  in 
Vermont,  were  founded  by  Moses  Sage,  who  resided  at 
"Sage's  City,"  now  North  Bennington,  in  1776.  Sage's  forges 
were  located  on  Furnace  Brook  and  ore  was  mined  at  the 
foot  of  Shaftsbury  Mountain.  That  mine  soon  "petered 
out"  and  another  was  located  in  Captain  Shields' s  District, 
east  of  Bennington,  partly  in  Woodford.  During  President 
Thomas  Jefferson's  administration,  several  iron  forges  were 
built  in  Woodford  Hollow  for  smelting  bars  of  iron  for  the 
manufacture  of  gun-boat  anchors  for  the  United  States 
Navy.  Both  Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison  visited 
Governor  Robinson  at  Bennington  Centre  during  their 
terms  of  office. 

Moses  Sage  and  his  son-in-law,  Giles  Olin,  sold  their  in- 
terest in  their  iron  works  to  Thomas  W.  Trenor  from  Dublin, 
Ireland,  who  arrived  in  Bennington  in  181 1.     Moses  Sage 


446  The  Hoosac  Valley 

later  moved  to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  founded  the  first  blast 
furnace  in  western  Pennsylvania.  The  first  iron  forge  in 
this  country,  and  possibly  in  the  world,  for  the  manufacture 
of  nails,  was  built  in  1775  on  Mill  Street  in  Bennington  by 
George  Keith,  who  doubtless  mined  his  own  iron  ore.  Sev- 
eral of  Keiths  nails  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  clap-boards 
on  the  colonial  houses  in  the  valley. 

The"  Old  Doty  Cotton-Mill"  of  "  Sage'sCity  "  occupied  the 
site  of  the  "  E.  Z."  waist-mills  at  North  Bennington.  Deacon 
Stephen  Hinsdill  built  a  cotton-mill  at  Hinsdillville  previous 
to  1835,  and  Truman  Estes's  "Old  Stone  Cotton  Mill"  of 
1840  is  now  occupied  by  Cushman's  furniture  factory. 

The  Falls  Quequick  became  a  mill-centre  in  1 784.  Joseph 
Dorr  leased  280  acres  of  the  patroon,  Barnardus  Bratt,  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Falls,  and  opened  wool-carding,  cloth- 
dressing,  flax-mill,  cider-distillery,  and  blacksmith-shop; 
and  Calvin  ran  a  grist-mill  and  Fox  a  linseed-oil  mill.  Joseph 
Gordon  in  1820  manufactured  cotton  at  Schaghticoke  in  a 
humble  way  and  sold  his  goods  from  a  wagon  in  the  streets 
of  Troy.  He  later  built  the  four-storied  Caledonia  Cotton 
Factory  of  brick,  on  the  south  bank  of  Falls  Quequick,  and 
equipped  it  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  looms,  contain- 
ing seven  thousand  spindles.  He  employed  fifty  men  and 
turned  out  30,000  yards  weekly.  In  1826,  he  became  a 
cripple  through  a  fall,  and  was  forced  to  sell  his  mill  to  the 
Crocker,  Knickerbacker,  House,  and  Merritt  Corporation, 
which  ran  the  business  until  1868. 

The  Tremont  Cotton-Mill  was  founded  eight  years  after 
Gordon's  Caledonia  Mill,  on  the  north  side  of  Falls  Quequick 
by  the  capitalist,  Benedict.  He  employed  seventy  hands 
and  produced  25,000  yards  weekly.  The  Tremont  Mill 
was  subsequently  converted  into  Walter  Abbott  Wood's 
mowing  and  reaping  machine-shops,  which  were  destroyed 
by  fire  in  i860. 


447 


448  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

Falls  Quequick  hamlet  was  incorporated  by  fifty  voters 
as  the  village  of  Hoosac  Falls  in  1827.  Gordon's  Caledonia 
Mill  became  the  centre  of  the  village,  which  contained  two 
miles  of  streets,  lined  by  thirty-six  dwellings  and  the  popu- 
lation of  which  was  two  hundred  inhabitants.  The  post- 
office  occupied  Postmaster  Seth  Parsons' s  machine-shop. 

The  elaborate  stage-coaches,  drawn  by  six  and  eight 
spirited  horses,  between  1832  and  1874  made  the  journey 
from  Boston  to  Albany  over  the  Stone  Post  Road  in  forty- 
eight  hours.  Relays  of  horses  were  made  along  the  line 
between  Capt.  Moses  Rice's  Charlemont  Inn  on  Hoosac 
Mountain,  Alphine  Smith's  North  Adams  House,  Walloom- 
sac  Inn  at  Bennington  Centre,  and  Finney's  Tavern  on  Pitts- 
town  Plains,  before  pulling  up  at  the  Thorpe  and  Sprague 
stage  office,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  State  Street  in 
Albany. 

The  Barnes  stage  office  in  Boston  was  located  at  the 
United  States  Tavern.  Among  the  skilled  drivers  over  the 
Hoosac  Mountain  may  be  mentioned  "Jim"  Stevens  and 
"Al"  Richardson,  who  became  skilled  in  horsemanship 
during  their  novitiate  in  the  White  Mountains.  According 
to  the  Rev.  Washington  Gladden  in  his  history,  From  the 
Hub  to  the  Hudson,  1872,  "they  made  every  horse  do  his 
part  on  the  uphill  stretches,  coolly  keeping  them  all  in 
hand  in  the  crooked  descent,  without  swearing,  shouting,  or 
whipping." 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  in  his  American  Note-book  during 
July,  1838,  described  a  stage-coach  ride  from  Pittsfield  to 
the  North  Adams  House.  He  observed  the  numerous  fac- 
tories along  the  Ashawaghsac,  and  was  not  unheedful  of 
the  girls  who  turned  their  faces  from  their  tasks,  and  of 
their  rude  boarding-houses,  adorned  with  bean- vines  climb- 
ing about  the  front  door  steps. 

The  scene  of  Hawthorne's  romance,  Ethan  Brand,  was  lo- 


Industries  during  Stage-Coach  Days       449 

cated  near  Farnham's  lime-kilns,  at  the  base  of  Ragged 
Mountain,  the  footstool  of  the  old  chieftain  Greylock,  a 
short  distance  south  of  the  city  of  North  Adams.  He  de- 
scribes the  "snug  and  insulated"  air  of  the  " hollow  vale, ' ' 
which,  viewed  from  certain  points,  it  would  seem  difficult 
to  get  out  of  without  a  climb  over  the  mountain  ridges. 
The  old  roads,  however,  wind  away  and  accomplish  the 
passage  without  ascending  very  high.  Sometimes  he  heard 
the  notes  of  a  horn  or  bugle  sounding  afar  among  the  passes 
of  the  mountains,  announcing  the  coming  of  the  stage-coach 
from  Bennington,  Greenfield,  or  Pittsfield. 

Like  a  faint  far  echo  that  responds  unto  its  own, 
In  a  far  off  vale  we  hear  the  bugle  moan ; 
And  sweetly  again  comes  back  a  dulcet  tone. 

The  echoing  bugle-horn  is  now  replaced  by  the  discordant 
clanging  of  the  gongs  of  the  electric  cars,  as  they  pass  through 
the  narrow  valleys  of  the  Taconac  Mountains.  The  hos- 
pitable welcome  of  the  landlords  at  the  mountain  inns  lost 
some  of  its  warmth  with  the  close  of  the  stage-coach  days, 
after  the  opening  of  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad. 

The  English  tourist,  Daniel  Pidgeon,  in  1883,  after  a 
charming  stage-coach  ride  of  five  miles  from  North  Adams 
about  the  base  of  Old  Greylock,  arrived  at  Williamstown, 
whose  academical  village  lies  buried  among  the  Hoosac 
highlands.  He  said:  "There  was  not  a  single  manufac- 
tory and  hardly  a  retail  shop  in  the  village,  whose  pretty 
bungalows  rose  from  the  elm-shaded  stretches  of  turf.  .  .  . 
Its  romantic  situation,  park-enfolded  homes  and  peaceful 
atmosphere  places  Williamstown  easily  ahead  of  every  other 
New  England  village  for  beauty." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

A  CENTURY  OF  PROGRESS  DURING  THE  HOOSAC  TUNNEL  ERA 

I8IO-I9IO 

No  one  can  look  on  the  fearless  energy,  the  sturdy  determination,  the  aptitude 
for  local  self-government,  the  versatile  alacrity,  and  the  unresisting  spirit  of  en- 
terprise which  characterize  the  Anglo-Americans,  without  feeling  that  here  he  be- 
holds the  true  elements  of  progressive  might. 

Creasy,  In  the  Thirteenth  Decisive  Battle  of  the  World. 

Erie  and  Hoosac  Canals — First  Railroads — Hoosac  Tunnel — Manufactures — 
Inventions — Wilson's  Sewing-Machine — Wood's  Mowing-  and  Reaping- 
Machines — Westinghouse's  Air-Breaks — Electric  Motors — Church  Spires 
— School  Towers — Factory  Chimneys — Balloons — Gladiolus  Fields. 

A  FTER  the  opening  of  the  first  iron  and  cotton  industries 
*»  in  the  Hoosac  Valley,  capitalists  began  to  consider 
means  of  obtaining  lines  of  transportation  by  canal  over  or 
a  railroad  tunnel  under  the  "Forbidden  Hoosac  Mountain." 
Chief  among  the  canal  and  railroad  magnates  may  be  men- 
tioned George  Tibbits  of  Dutch  Hoosac.  He  was  elected 
Senator  by  the  Federalist  Party  for  the  Eastern  District  of 
New  York,  during  the  office  of  Gov.  De  Witt  Clinton  between 
1 81 5  and  181 7,  and  introduced  the  State  System  for  finan- 
ciering the  construction  of  Erie  Canal.  A  legislative  act 
was  passed,  adopting  Tibbits's  Bill,  and  signed  by  Governor 
Clinton,  April  15,  181 7.  The  first  lock  of  Erie  Canal  was 
completed  at  Lockport  by  engineer  Nathan  Preston  Stod- 
dard, son  of  Parson  Stoddard  of  the  First  Church  of  New 
Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Col.  John  Stoddard  of 
Fort  Massachusetts  fame. 

450 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era    451 

A  Board  of  Commissioners,  including  the  Hon.  Daniel  Noble 
of  Williamstown  (chairman),  William  E.  Bray  ton  of  North 
Adams,  and  the  engineer,  Loami  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  and  four 
others,  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  in  July,  1825,  to 
consider  the  survey  for  a  canal  over  Hoosac  Mountain.  The 
opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  took  place  on  November  25,  1825, 
and  the  boat,  Seneca  Chief,  conveyed  the  Governors  Council 
from  Lockport  to  Albany.  The  Hoosac  Canal  Committee, 
headed  by  engineer  Loami  Baldwin,  during  the  same  month 
explored  the  headwaters  of  Hoosac  Mountain,  north  of  the 
portals  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel.  A  route  was  surveyed  by  way 
of  Worcester,  Springfield,  and  Westfield  rivers,  and  another 
by  way  of  Fitchburgh,  Miller,  and  Deerfield  rivers.  Each 
plan  made  North  Adams  a  common  centre.  The  latter 
survey  was  favored  for  the  canal,  although  a  tunnel  through 
Hoosac  Mountain  was  proposed  as  a  more  permanent  line 
of  transit. 

Railroading  was  then  in  its  infancy.  The  Mohawk  and 
Hudson  steam  passenger  line,  chartered  May  27,  1826,  being 
the  first  in  this  country.  It  was  opened  between  Albany 
and  Waterford,  September  24,  J  831.  Edward  Everett,  in 
a  speech  during  1827,  said:  "A  system  of  internal  im- 
provements has  commenced,  which  will  have  the  effect, 
when  a  little  further  developed,  of  crowding  within  a  few 
years  the  progress  of  generations.' ' 

The  Albany  Legislature  passed  an  act,  April  18,  1831, 
incorporating  the  Troy  Turnpike  and  Railroad  Company, 
with  power  to  construct  a  railroad  or  turnpike  from  the  city 
of  Troy  up  Hoosac  Valley  to  Bennington  and  Pownal  as  far 
as  Massachusetts  Line.  George  Tibbits  was  elected  the 
foremost  director  in  May,  and  on  January  10,  1832,  it  was 
estimated  that  the  cost  of  equipping  the  road  with  engines 
and  cars  would  be  $450,000. 

On  January   12,   1833,  all  the  directors,  except  George 


452  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Tibbits,  voted  to  construct  a  turnpike  instead  of  a  railroad. 
He  believed  in  the  proposed  Troy  and  Hoosac  Tunnel  Route 
to  Boston,  and  in  1834  he  personally  engaged  Prof.  Amos 
Eaton  and  his  students  of  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute 
of  Troy  to  survey  a  railroad  route  to  the  base  of  Hoosac 
Mountain  in  North  Adams.  Mr.  Tibbits,  then  a  gentleman 
of  seventy  years,  accompanied  Eaton's  students  on  foot, 
sharing  the  hardships  of  the  expedition  with  them. 

The  Rensselaer,  Saratoga,  and  Ballston  Spa,  Railroad  was 
incorporated,  April  14,  1833,  under  the  directors:  Pres. 
Richard  P.  Hart,  John  Knickerbacker,  John  House,  Stephen 
Warren,  William  Pierce,  James  Cook,  William  Haight,  and 
Joel  Lee,  and  completed,  October  8,  1835.  The  Western 
Railroad,  now  the  Boston  and  Albany  Line,  extending  from 
Schenectady  by  way  of  Waterford  Union  Toll-Bridge  of  the 
Hudson  to  Lansingburgh,  was  completed  as  far  as  Pittsfield 
in  1843,  within  twenty  miles  of  North  Adams. 

The  largest  manufacturing  companies  of  the  upper  Hoosac 
during  the  same  year  subscribed  $90,000  in  stock  toward 
building  a  branch  line  of  twenty  miles  between  North  Adams 
and  Pittsfield.  In  order  to  expedite  the  work,  $31,000  in 
cash  was  raised,  after  which  the  Western  Railroad  Company 
later  completed  and  equipped  the  Pittsfield  and  North 
Adams  line  with  engines  and  cars  costing  $450,000.  The  road 
was  opened  during  the  annual  Agricultural  Fair  and  Cattle 
Show;  and  passenger,  freight,  and  truck  cars  were  pressed 
into  service  to  accommodate  the  Berkshire  crowds.  It  was  a 
week  famous  in  the  annals  of  a  century  of  progress  in  Hoosac 
Valley. 

The  Hoosac  Tunnel1  had  its  visionary  birth,  April  4,  1848, 
when  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  incorporated  the 
Greenfield  and  Hoosac  Tunnel  Railroad  Company,  with 
power  to  build  a  railroad  to  the  Vermont  State  Line  in 

1  Washington  Gladden,  From  the  Hub  to  the  Hudson,  1872. 


453 


454  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Pownal,  and  to  connect  with  the  Troy  Railroad.  Both 
of  these  companies  were  required  to  complete  their  sur- 
veys within  two  years,  and  to  construct  their  roads 
within  seven  years  from  the  date  of  their  incorporation. 

The  Troy  Railroad  Company,  in  1848,  included  Pres. 
Amos  Briggs  of  Schaghticoke,  George  Mortimer  Tibbits  of 
Hoosac,  son  of  the  Hon.  George  Tibbits;  John  E.  Wood, 

D.  T.  Vail,  Daniel  Robinson,  C.  N.  Merritt,  J.  C.  Heartt, 

E.  T.  Gale,  Elias  Johnson,  I.  B.  Hart,  and  Stephen  B.  War- 
ren of  Troy;  D.  S.  McNamara  of  North  Hoosac,  and  Judge 
Levi  Chandler  Ball  of  Hoosac  Falls.  Work  began  on  the 
line  at  "Bull's  Head"  farm  in  Troy,  June  6,  1850. 

The  subscription  books  of  the  Greenfield  and  Hoosac 
Tunnel  Railroad  Company  were,  however,  at  the  close  of 
six  years,  in  1854,  blank  pages.  A  legislative  act  passed  that 
year  granted  its  credit  to  the  company  for  a  loan  of  $2,000,- 
000,  and  E.  W.  Sherrel  and  Co.  contracted  to  build  the  road 
and  tunnel.  The  State  loan  was  granted  under  such  con- 
ditions that  the  contractors  made  little  progress.  In  1856, 
H.  Haupt  and  Co.  were  engaged  to  complete  the  railroad 
from  Greenfield  to  Vermont  Line  for  $3,880,000.  Headings 
and  excavations  began  simultaneously  at  both  the  East  and 
West  Portals  of  Hoosac  Mountain  in  1856.  The  railroad 
between  the  West  Portal  and  Vermont  State  Line  was  com- 
pleted in  1858.  Meanwhile  a  passenger  stage-coach  con- 
veyed travellers  over  Hoosac  Mountain  to  connect  with 
Greenfield  Railroad  for  Boston,  until  the  completion  of  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel  in  1876. 

The  formative  rocks  at  the  base  of  Hoosac  Mountain 
consist  of  soluble  talc,  schists,  and  limerock  of  the  Taconac 
Range,  which  merge  with  the  flinty  quartzite  nodules  of  the 
Green  Mountain  bed-rock.  The  Hoosac  consists  of  two 
summits:  the  eastern  crest,  21 10  feet  high,  is  about  1450 
feet  above  the  bed  of  Deerfield  River;  and  the  western  brow, 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  455 

2510  feet  high,  about  1750  feet  above  the  Hoosac  River. 
Between  the  summits  flows  Cold  River  through  the  town 
of  Florida  to  the  Deerfield  River.  The  lowest  elevation  in 
the  intervale,  on  the  line  of  the  tunnel  is  about  800  feet 
above  its  highest  grade. 

The  West  Shaft,  2500  feet  east  of  the  Western  Portal,  was 
sunk  318  feet,  and  Central  Shaft,  on  west  slope  of  the  Hoosacs 
in  Cold  River  Valley,  sunk  1028  feet  to  same  level,  making  a 
gradual  up-grade  between  the  two  shafts.  Work  of  tunnelling 
in  1 85 1  first  began  with  pick-axes,  hand-drills,  and  explosives. 
Quicksand  was  met  at  the  Eastern  Portal,  and  a  second 
heading  was  made.  Much  difficulty  was  encountered  at  the 
Western  Portal,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  workmen  there 
struck  the  soluble  talc  schists,  which  formed  streams  of 
mud  of  the  consistency  of  pudding.  This  resulted  in  an 
excavation  of  550  feet  of  earth,  300  feet  in  width,  by  75 
feet  in  depth.  A  casing  of  timber,  883  feet  in  length,  was 
built  for  the  support  of  the  roof  and  the  floor  of  the  chamber. 
The  first  900  feet  of  the  tunnel  thus  consists  of  a  solid 
tube  of  masonry,  averaging  eight  thicknesses  of  brick. 

These  obstacles  lead  the  great  wiseacres  to  declare  that 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  could  not  be  completed.  The  timely 
invention  of  nitro-glycerine  and  its  successful  uses  under 
Prof.  George  Mowbray,  made  slow  but  sure  progress  after 
the  picks  struck  the  flint  quartzite  nodules  in  the  heart  of 
Hoosac  Mountain. 

A  rock-cutting  machine,  designed  to  aid  in  excavating 
headings,  was  hauled  to  Hoosac  Mountain  in  1851.  After 
cutting  ten  feet  of  rock,  it  refused  to  work  and  was  left 
standing  near  the  Eastern  Portal  for  old  iron.  Later,  in  a 
letter  dated  September  25,  1858,  H.  Haupt  prophesied  to 
General  Wood  that  the  slowest  progress  of  another  new  bor- 
ing machine  was  fifteen  inches  an  hour,  and  that  the  tun- 
nel could  be  completed  in  twenty-six  months.      But   the 


456  The  Hoosac  Valley 

monster  auger  refused  to  bore  a  single  inch,  and  like  the 
cutting-machine  was  abandoned  for  old  iron. 

The  engineers  constructing  Mount  Cenis  Tunnel  through 
the  Alps  adopted  steam-power  drills.  Engineer  Doane 
later  introduced  air-compressed  power-drills  in  Hoosac  Tun- 
nel. A  dam  was  constructed  on  the  Deerfield  above  the 
Eastern  Portal,  and  ninety  pounds  of  compressed  air  to  the 
square  inch  was  piped  into  the  tunnel  to  operate  the  pistons 
of  the  drilling-machines.  Haupt  and  Co.,  after  excavating 
a  mile  and  two  feet,  resigned  their  work  in  1861.  A  legisla- 
tive act  in  1862  decided  that  the  State  should  complete  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel,  and  in  February,  1863,  F.  Shanly  and  Bro. 
from  Canada,  contracted  to  complete  the  excavation,  and 
build  the  railroad  for  $4,750,000  by  March  1,  1874. 

The  slopes  about  the  "Tunnel  City"  assumed  the  charac- 
teristic atmosphere  of  a  Western  mining  camp,  and  the  acci- 
dents that  befall  mining  districts  failed  not  to  visit  North 
Adams.  The  power-house,  containing  the  machinery  opera- 
ting the  drilling-machine  and  pumps  over  the  Central  Shaft, 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  through  an  explosion  of  a  tank  of  gaso- 
line, October  19,  1867.  The  hoisting  buckets,  loaded  with 
rock,  announced  the  catastrophe  to  the  thirteen  miners,  583 
feet  below  the  burning  building. 

The  heroic  Mallery  was  lowered  by  ropes  to  the  bottom  of 
the  shaft  the  next  morning  and  reported  a  depth  of  fifteen 
feet  of  water,  but  no  signs  of  living  or  dead  men.  A  year 
later,  a  new  building,  equipped  with  pumps,  removed  the 
water  and  recovered  the  bodies  of  the  entombed  miners. 
Tradition  records  that  ghostly  forms  haunted  the  trail 
between  the  West  Shaft  and  Central  Shaft  until  the  bodies 
were  buried  on  the  hillside  beneath  the  blue  sky. 

Tourists  visited  the  tunnel  to  behold  the  mechanism  of  the 
novel  drilling-machine,  and  the  explosive  action  of  the  car- 
tridges of  dynamite  attached  to  a  galvanic  battery.     The 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  457 

poet,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  once  prophesied  that  the  millen- 
nium and  the  completion  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  would  take 
place  at  the  same  time.  On  Thanksgiving  Day,  November 
27,  1873,  the  final  blast  broke  away  the  last  barrier  of  rock 
separating  the  Hoosac  from  the  Deerfield  Valley.  A  vari- 
ation of  Ye  of  an  inch  existed  between  the  two  headings. 

Nineteen  weary  years  had  elapsed  from  the  time  of  the 
opening  to  the  time  of  the  closing  blast  which  completed  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel,  four  and  three-fourth  miles  in  length, 
through  the  wall  of  the  ''Forbidden  Hoosac,"  over  which 
Nature  had  inscribed  "No  Thoroughfare."  It  remains  one 
of  the  world's  wonders  in  pioneer  engineering,  although 
Mount  Cenis  Tunnel,  begun  after  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  is 
seven  and  a  half  miles  in  length. 

The  value  of  manufactures  on  the  upper  Hoosac  in  1868, 
according  to  records  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Department,  was 
$7,000,000,  much  of  which  was  iron,  woollen,  cotton,  and 
leather  goods.  The  opening  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  took 
place  when  the  first  truck  cars  passed  safely  through  the 
mountain's  wall,  February  9,  1875.  Passenger  trains  did 
not  make  regular  trips  until  the  autumn  of  1876.  Merely 
to  shorten  the  distance  between  Boston  and  Albany  by  nine 
miles  actually  cost  196  lives  and  $20,241,842.  The  line  of 
the  tunnel  is  marked  by  telegraph  poles  over  the  Hoosac 
Mountain,  observed  to  advantage  from  the  engineer's 
signal  block-house,  still  standing  on  the  brow  of  Ragged 
Mountain,  opposite  the  Western  Portal. 

The  Hudson  River  Railroad  was  opened  for  passenger 
trains  on  October  1,  1851,  while  the  Harlem  Extension  of 
the  Putnam  Division,  passing  from  Chatham  through  Little 
Hoosac  Pass  to  Petersburgh  Junction  and  thence  to  Ben- 
nington, was  one  of  the  pioneer  roads.  The  Bennington 
branch  of  the  Rutland  Railroad — now  a  part  of  the  New 
York  and   Montreal  Railroad — was  reorganized  with  the 


458  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Harlem  Extension  by  Pres.  Abram  B.  Gardner  and  Trenor 
W.  Park  of  Bennington  in  1877.  After  the  latter's  death, 
Gov.  John  G.  McCullough  of  North  Bennington  became  a 
director.  Branch  roads  connect  with  the  Hoosac  Tunnel, 
Fitchburgh,  and  Boston  line — now  known  as  the  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad — at  Petersburgh  Junction,  Hoosac  Junction, 
Eagle  Bridge,  Johnsonville,  Schaghticoke,  and  Mechanics- 
ville  Junction.  The  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters  becomes 
the  vale  of  mingling  railroads. 

The  leading  manufactures  of  North  Adams  consist  of 
woollen,  cotton,  print  goods,  shoes,  and  leather  novelties. 
The  historic  Linwood  Mill,  founded  by  Briggs  Bros,  in  1822, 
produced  cassimeres  and  cheviots.  The  mills  are  now  owned 
by  Stephen  W.  Barker,  the  wool-merchant  of  Troy.  The 
Blackington  Mill,  founded  in  1822  by  Wells,  Blackington, 
and  White  turned  out  satinet.  Later  it  was  converted  into 
a  woollen  mill  by  Sandford  Blackington  and  his  son,  William 
Blackington.  The  Braytonville  Mill  was  founded  by 
William  E.  and  Thomas  A.  Bray  ton  in  1831  for  the  manu- 
facture of  printing  cloth  a  yard  wide,  and  was  converted  into 
a  woollen  mill  in  1863,  by  Sandford  Blackington  and  Daniel 
Dewey.  The  hamlet  was  then  known  as  Deweyville,  now 
Braytonville. 

The  Greylock  Cotton-Mill  was  founded  in  1846  and  re- 
organized in  1880  as  a  gingham-mill.  It  is  now  operated  as 
a  part  of  Plunkett's  Berkshire  Cotton  Plant  of  Adams,  and 
contains  25,000  spindles  and  600  looms  for  the  production 
of  fine  lawns.  Johnson's  Factory  occupies  the  finest  mill- 
site  in  Hoosac  Valley.  It  was  founded  as  a  warp-mill  by 
Sylvander  Johnson,  Nathaniel  Hathaway,  George  Bly,  and 
Peter  Blackington  in  1850,  and  later  reorganized  as  a 
gingham-mill. 

The  first  print  works  of  North  Adams  were  founded  by 
Caleb  B.  Turner  in  1830,  on  the  site  of  Otis  Hodge's  iron 


459 


460 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


furnace.  Later,  the  place  was  occupied  by  the  calico  works 
by  Stephen  B.  Brown  and  Duty  S.  Tyler.  The  Arnold 
Print  Works  were  founded  by  Harvey  and  John  F.  Arnold, 
descendants  of  Gov.  Benedict  Arnold  of  Rhode  Island.    The 


1 


Greylock  Factory  Village,  North  Adams,  Massachusetts,  at  the  base  of 
Mount  Williams,  the  northern  abutment  of  Greylock  Range.  Factory  chim- 
neys and  Church  spires  replace  the  cannon  mounts  of  the  Old  Forts  of  Hoosac 
Valley. 

Beaver  Print  Works  were  founded  in  1832  by  Maj.  Loring 
Rice  and  George  W.  Bly,  after  which  Union  Village  in  Clarks- 
burgh  was  organized  north  of  North  Adams.  The  Freeman 
Print  Works  were  founded  by  Levi  L.  Brown  of  Adams  at  an 
equally  early  day.  The  present  Windsor  Print  Works,  near 
the  junction  of  the  Mayoonsac  with  the  Ashawaghsac,  consist 
of  a  consolidation  of  the  Arnold,  Beaver,  and  Freeman  works. 
The  shoe  business  of  North  Adams  began  in  1843,  when 
Edwin  Childs  and  David  C.  Rogers  opened  a  small  shop. 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  461 

The  largest  shoe  concerns  in  North  Adams  to-day  include 
those  founded  by  Mi  lard,  Cady,  Chase,  Whitman,  Canedy, 
and  Sampson,  and  engage  an  average  of  2500  operators. 
In  1870,  Sampson  employed  75  Chinamen  during  a  strike, 
which  proved  the  first  introduction  of  Chinese  labor  in 
New  England.  The  leather  business  was  founded  by  Daniel 
Barber.  It  is  the  only  New  England  concern  finishing  seal, 
morocco,  and  pigskin  leather  both  for  shoes  and  novelties 
direct  from  the  green  hides. 

James  Hunter,  Sr.,  a  Scotchman  from  Galashiels  in  1847, 
founded  a  machine  shop  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Ashawagh- 
sac,  near  the  site  of  the  historic  furnace.  There  is  scarcely  a 
woollen  mill  in  the  United  States  not  supplied  with  machin- 
ery from  Hunter's  machine  shop.  At  an  early  day  North 
Adams  became  celebrated  as  a  mechanical  centre.  Allen 
B.  Wilson  invented  his  sewing-machine  in  the  town.  During 
the  spring  of  1850,  he  left  North  Adams  with  his  sewing 
machine  model  for  New  York  to  secure  a  patent.  In  1865, 
he  returned  and  built  the  Wilson  House  with  the  profits  of 
his  invention,  now  manufactured  as  the  Wheeler  and  Wilson 
sewing-machine. 

The  Rev.  Washington  Gladden  states1  that  Allen  B. 
Wilson  invented  a  sewing-machine  without  help  or  suggestion 
from  anybody  else,  and  without  having  seen  or  heard  of  a 
sewing-machine.  The  idea  was  purely  original  with  him. 
The  Wheeler  and  Wilson  was  a  practical  success  from  the 
start. 

The  manufactures  of  Adams  Village  consist  o  cotton, 
paper,  lime,  and  marble.  The  Berkshire  Cotton  Manufac- 
turing Company  was  organized,  August  10,  1889,  by  sons 
of  Gen.  W.  C.  Plunkett,  first  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Mill  No.  1  was  dedicated  in  February,  1890, 
with  a  concert  attended  by  6000  people.     Mill  No.  2  was 

1  Washington  Gladden,  From  the  Hub  to  the  Hudson,  1872. 


462  The  Hoosac  Valley 

dedicated,  October  5,  1892,  by  Gov.  William  McKinley,  of 
Ohio,  after  the  passage  of  McKinley's  tariff  bill.  The  cost 
of  the  first  two  mills  exceeded  $1,000,000.  Mill  No.  3  was 
dedicated  by  William  McKinley  in  1899,  after  his  election 
as  President.  The  whole  plant  is  equipped  with  2100 
spindles  and  employs  1000  hands,  and  is  acknowledged  sec- 
ond to  no  other  American  cotton  concern.  The  L.  L.  Brown 
Paper  Company  is  noted  for  its  superior  hand-made  ledger 
paper  the  world  over.  The  historic  Harbor  Mill  of  Cheshire 
on  the  upper  Ashawaghsac  still  remains  as  a  landmark. 
The  Grey  lock  Shirt  Company  at  Adams,  founded  in  1891, 
produces  500  dress  shirts  weekly.  The  Shirting  and  Table- 
cloth Company  was  founded  by  Levi  L.  Brown  and  is  now 
operated  by  James  Renfrew  at  Renfrew.  At  Maple  Grove 
the  Adams  Bros,  run  a  cotton  yarn-mill. 

The  Adams  Marble  Quarry  on  Ragged  Mountain  was 
opened  in  1895  and  produces  pure  crystal  marble  99  -rVo  % 
carbonate  of  lime.  It  is  equal  to  the  Lee  and  Dorset 
quarries,  and  only  surpassed  by  the  Italian  marbles.  The 
New  England  lime-kilns  carry  on  an  extensive  business  and 
control  a  branch  kiln  at  Kreigger  Rocks  in  North  Pownal, 
Vt. 

The  Bennington  manufactures  of  the  upper  Walloomsac 
consist  of  pottery,  stoves,  furnaces,  gunpowder,  and  paper- 
pulp;  dress  goods,  shoddy,  knit  underwear,  and  hosiery; 
men's  uniforms,  cuffs,  collars,  waxed-paper,  mineral  soap, 
and  ochres. 

Col.  Olin  Scott,  a  descendant  from  several  of  the  pioneer 
mill-owners  of  historic  Bennington,  invented  machinery 
for  the  manufacture  of  gun-powder  during  the  Civil  War, 
and  now  ships  it  throughout  the  United  States,  Canada, 
Mexico,  Brazil,  Russia,  and  South  Africa.  Later  he  erected 
powder-mills  at  Marquette,  Mich.,  Youngstown,  O.,  Scran- 
ton,    Pa.,    New   York   City,    and   Wilmington,    Del.     His 


463 


464  The  Hoosac  Valley 

machine-shop  at  Bennington  produces  machinery  to-day 
for  the  manufacture  of  wood-pulp  for  paper  stocks,  which  is 
shipped  throughout  the  United  States,  Canada,  Newfound- 
land, Mexico,  Japan,  Russia,  Germany,  Norway,  and  Sweden. 

Trenor  W.  Parks  born  in  "Woodford  City"  was  named 
after  Thomas  W.  Trenor.  He  became  a  famous  jurist  in 
California,  and  after  his  return  to  the  Walloomsac  Valley 
he  built  a  palatial  mansion  in  North  Bennington,  on  the 
farm  of  his  father-in-law,  ex- Gov.  Hiland  Hall.  Among  his 
bequests  may  be  noted  the  Trenor  W.  Park  Public  Library 
Building,  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Bennington,  surrounded 
by  a  beautiful  park,  adorned  by  a  famous  fountain,  and 
the  Gothic  Congregational  Church  at  North  Bennington. 
Through  Park's  enterprise  the  Panama  Railroad  was  pur- 
chased and  re-sold  to  the  present  Panama  Canal  Company. 

The  Norton  pottery  and  John  Van  Spiegel  stove  and 
furnace  works  flourished  during  early  days.  The  pulp  and 
paper-mill  industries  of  the  Walloomsac  included  the  Fillmore 
and  Slade  pulp-mill  at  Bennington  Falls,  which  occupied 
the  site  of  the  historic  Benton  and  Fuller  paper-mill  of 
seventy-five  years  previous,  at  Paper-Mill  Village.  The 
Stark  Paper-Mill  Company  controls  the  old  stone  mill  built 
by  Edward  Welling  in  1833  on  the  site  of  Tory  Haviland's 
grist-mill  at  North  Bennington;  the  Sodom  or  State  Line 
paper-mill,  and  also  the  Valley  Falls  paper-mill  on  the  lower 
Hoosac. 

The  knit  underwear  and  hosiery  industry  was  founded  by 
Henry  Bradford  in  1854,  and  this  plant  is  now  owned  by  Col. 
Lyman  F.  Abbott  and  William  H.  and  Edward  W.  Bradford. 
Charles  H.  LindlorT,  Norman  JPufTer,  George  Rockwood, 
and  Tiffany  Bros,  also  turn  out  knit  underwear  and  ship 
goods  throughout  the  United  States.  Crawford  and  Carney 
manufacture  shoddy;  Enos  Adams,  mineral  soap;  Bottom 
and  Torrance,  cuffs  and  collars;  Coy  and  Babcock  turn  out 


3f> 


4<>5 


466 


The  Hoosac  Valley- 


over  ten  tons  of  waxed  paper  daily,  shipped  throughout 
the  States. 

The  pioneer  products  of  North  Bennington  consisted  of 
starch,  manufactured  by  Edward  Welling  in  the  old  stone 
grist-mill  in  1850.  In  1867,  the  place  became  the  Welling 
and  Thatcher  paper-mill.      The  mill-pond  belonging  to  the 


The  Walter  Abbott  Wood  mowing-  and  reaping-machine  shops,  Hoosac 
Falls,  New  York,  founded  in  185 1.  Wood's  machines  are  harvesting  in  the 
fields  on  five  continents  to-day. 


Vermont  Mill  Company  covers  fifty  acres,  occupying  the 
site  of  the  "Old  Doty  Cotton  Mill,"  built  in  1811,  now 
the  site  of  the  "E.  Z."  waist  factory,  operated  by  Clark  and 
Haight.  The  latter  is  the  proprietor  of  the  Superior  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  Hoosac  Falls.  Six  hundred  "E.  Z." 
children's  waists  are  turned  out  daily.  Cushman's  furniture 
novelties  are  manufactured  in  the  Truman  Estes  stone 
cotton-mill  built  1840.  The  Walbridge  Company  and  the 
Hawley  White  Company  in  Hinsdillville  both  manufacture 
stereoscopes  and  lenses  sold  throughout  the  world. 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  467 

The  financiers  and  inventors  of  central  Hoosac  mill-centre, 
between  Pownal  and  Eagle  Bridge,  include  James  Fisk,  Jr., 
the  railroad  magnate,  known  as  the  "  Prince  of  Erie."  As  a 
child  he  resided  with  Mrs.  Albro  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  River  and  Main  streets  in  Pownal.  A  memorial  monu- 
ment marks  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Albro  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery. 
On  the  west  bank  of  the  Hoosac,  opposite  Kreigger  Rocks, 
is  located  the  Westinghouse  Farm,  settled  by  the  great- 
grand-fathers  of  George  Westinghouse — the  inventor  of  the 
airbrake — now  President  of  the  Westinghouse  Electrical 
Corporation  of  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  and  London. 

The  name  of  Walter  Abbott  Wood  of  Hoosac  Falls  mill- 
centre  is  a  memorable  one.  He  was  a  son  of  the  Quaker, 
Aaron  Wood,  born  October  23,  181 5.  They  located  in  central 
Hoosac  and  manufactured  wagons  and  ploughs  until  1852; 
and  between  1845  and  1848  young  Wood  invented  a  mowing- 
machine.  In  1 85 1,  the  London  Society  of  Arts  drew  the 
world's  attention  to  American  inventions,  including  Wood's 
mowing-  and  reaping-machines.  The  same  year  John  H. 
Manning  invented  the  Illinois  mower  and  harvester  com- 
bination. Wood  secured  territorial  rights  and  improved 
and  manufactured  300  of  Manning's  machines  in  1853  at 
Hoosac  Falls.  Five  years  later  he  opened  his  London  office, 
and  in  less  than  twenty-five  years  shipped  a  thousand 
mowing-machines  to  England. 

At  the  opening  of  1857,  there  had  been  patented  156 
mowing-machines  and  62  harvesters  in  the  United  States. 
The  Manning  machine,  combined  with  Wood's  inventions, 
figured  in  all  the  National  and  International  Exhibitions, 
and  received  the  gold  medals  between  1862  and  1876.  At 
the  International  Exhibition  at  Vienna,  Wood  was  regarded 
as  a  "Benefactor  to  Humanity* '  and  awarded  the  Grand 
Diploma  of  Honor  for  introducing  mowing-  and  reaping- 
machines  in  Europe.     These  machines  are  now  found  the 


468  The  Hoosac  Valley 

world  over.  The  number  of  machines  produced  annually 
in  Wood's  Hoosac  Falls  shops  was  25,000,  the  sale  of  which, 
previous  to  Wood's  death,  netted  $3,000,000  a  year. 

The  Malleable  Iron  Works  of  Hoosac  Falls  was  founded 
by  Isaac  C.  Johnson  of  New  York  City  and  William  Nichols 
of  Hoosac  in  1 87 1.  It  consumes  over  800  tons  of  iron  annu- 
ally in  the  manufacture  of  carriage  ironings,  carpenter,  and 
agricultural  tools. 

The  Schaghticoke  mill-centre  about  Hart's  Falls  turns  out 
woollen-goods,  cable,  paper,  and  powder.  The  woollen-mill 
founded  by  Amos  Briggs  and  Thomas  Vail  in  1863  turned 
out  fancy  cassimeres.  It  is  now  a  branch  cf  the  historic 
Linwood  Mill  of  North  Adams.  J.  J.  Joslin  of  Buskirk 
Bridge  purchased  the  mill  in  1878.  Both  the  Schaghticoke 
and  North  Adams  cassimere-mills  are  now  owned  by  the 
wool  merchant,  Stephen  J.  Barker  of  Troy. 

The  Eagle  Shirt  Works  of  Schaghticoke  were  opened  in 
1876  and  finished  12,000  dozen  shirts  annually.  The  Pow- 
der-Mill  is  one  of  the  oldest  industries  of  the  town,  located 
half  a  mile  south  of  Hart's  Falls.  Drs.  Franklin  and  Saxton 
were  among  the  pioneer  proprietors  and  passed  through 
several  explosions. 

The  Cable  Flax-Mill  was  founded  by  Lake  and  Sproat  in 
1 87 1.  It  occupies  the  historic  site  of  Joy's  linen-duck  mill 
and  supplies  the  market  of  the  world  with  rope,  twine,  yarn, 
and  shoe  thread,  from  their  Troy,  New  York,  and  San 
Francisco  offices.  Over  6000  pounds  of  raw  material  of  flax 
are  consumed  daily,  from  which  are  produced  5000  pounds 
of  finished  material. 

The  promoter,  George  Tibbits  of  Dutch  Hoosac,  also 
owned  vast  estates  in  Schaghticoke.  He  once  conceived  of 
a  plan  to  use  the  water-power  of  Hart's  Falls  to  furnish  power 
for  several  factories  in  the  gorge  between  the  "Big-Eddy" 
and   the   "Devil's   Chimney,"  opposite   the   "Fallen-hill" 


469 


47°  The  Hoosac  Valley 

in  Old  Schaghticoke.  A  "brush  dam"  was  begun  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Hoosac  between  "HeH's-gate"  and  "In- 
dian-square," opposite  "  Buck's-neck."  It  consisted  of  trees 
bolted  with  their  branches  in  layers,  that  served  as  trans- 
verse timbers.  The  whole  structure  was  covered  with  earth, 
with  gates  or  conduits  to  furnish  power  to  a  series  of  mills, 
one  below  the  other.  A  tremendous  cloud-burst  in  the 
highlands  caused  a  destructive  freshet  in  Hart's  Falls  gorge. 
The  brush  dam  was  lifted  bodily  by  the  Fiend  of  Calamity 
and  the  visionary  dream  of  the  manufacturing  city  of  Schagh- 
ticoke floated  down  to  Mechanicsville  and  Cohoes  Falls  mill- 
centres.  The  ruins  of  the  brick  walls  of  one  of  the  gates  and 
the  mounds  of  the  brush  dam  are  still  discernible  at  "Indian- 
square." 

The  Hoosac  Valley  Street  Railway  Co.  was  chartered  in 
1886.  The  line  was  first  equipped  with  the  five  bob-tailed 
horse  cars,  running  between  North  Adams  and  Adams,  and 
extended  to  Pittsfield  in  1887.  Pres.  William  B.  Baldwin 
in  1889  equipped  the  line  with  Thomson-Houston  electric 
motors  with  a  power  plant  at  Zylonite.  This  road  was 
among  the  first  six  electric  roads  equipped  with  motor  power 
in  this  country.  It  was  here  that  the  Thomson-Houston 
motors  were  experimented  with  before  being  introduced 
upon  other  lines. 

During  1889,  the  Sand  Spring  line  between  North  Adams 
and  Williamstown  was  completed  and  in  the  spring  of  1906 
the  extension  to  Bennington  was  completed.  It  connects 
with  the  Hoosac  Falls  Road.  The  grade  between  the  village 
of  Pownal  and  Pownal  Centre  is  437  feet  in  two  and  one- 
half  miles.  The  construction  of  this  section  cost  the  com- 
pany considerably  over  $1,000,000.  The  pine  grove  and 
swamps  about  Lake  Ashawagh ■  lie  two  miles  east  of  Pownal 

1 "  Bogs  of  Etchowog  "  in  Bog-Trotting  for  Orchids.  See  Note  1,  at  end  of 
volume,  and  p.  493. 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  471 

Centre,  in  the  shadow  of  the  Dome.  A  picturesque  car 
line  formerly  extended  from  Bennington  to  the  base  of 
Mount  Stark — the  heights  of  Glastonbury.  A  cloud-burst 
on  the  Walloomsac  headwaters  took  place  a  few  years  ago 
and  the  freshet  demolished  the  tracks. 

The  electric  car  line  from  Stockbridge  through  the  Hoosac 
and  Walloomsac  passes  of  the  Green  and  Taconac  Mountains 
to  Bennington  and  Hoosac  Falls  offers  the  most  picturesque 
and  historic  excursions  to  be  found  in  New  England. 

The  medicinal  qualities  of  the  Wampanoags'  Sand  Springs 
of  White  Oaks,  Williamstown,  were  first  known  to  the  Hoo- 
sac Owls  of  the  Mahicans.  The  hunter,  Aaron  Smedley, 
in  1762,  was  the  first  Christian  known  to  bathe  in  the  pool. 
Dr.  Charles  Bailey  of  Pittsfield  purchased  the  Mineral 
Springs  in  1830,  and  Grey  lock  Hall  was  built  and  opened 
by  Foster  E.  Swift  in  1 87 1 .     The  hotel  burned  in  1 887. 

During  1893,  Dr.  S.  Louis  Lloyd  founded  the  Sand  Springs 
Sanitarium.  Merck's  analysis  of  the  Wampanoags'  Springs 
proved  them  to  have  a  thermal  temperature  of  74°  through- 
out the  year,  and  that  they  were  without  any  traces  of  lime. 
For  rheumatism  and  kidney  troubles  they  are  superior  to 
the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  Carlsbad 
in  Prussia  and  Bohemia. 

From  the  time  of  the  construction  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel, 
the  Valley  folk  were  united  in  their  desire  to  advance  both 
commercial  and  intellectual  pursuits.  When  in  1894  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education  proposed  to  build 
several  normal  colleges,  North  Adams  was  foremost  in 
welcoming  the  suggestion.  Her  citizens  offered  $100,000  in 
land  and  money  as  an  inducement  to  locate  one  of  the  schools 
in  the  " Tunnel  City" — the  "liveliest  business  centre  in  the 
State" — with  a  population  of  over  25,000. 

In  presenting  the  Hoosactonians'  plea  before  the  legisla- 
tive committee,  Dr.  John  Bascom  of  Williams  College  signi- 


472  The  Hoosac  Valley 

ficantly  pointed  to  the  map  and  said:  "North  Adams  sits 
at  the  Western  Gateway  of  the  Commonwealth."  This 
phrase  became  the  legend  adopted  on  the  seal  of  the  "Tunnel 
City,"  after  its  incorporation  as  a  city  in  1895.  The  seal 
consists  of  an  engraving  of  the  Western  Portal  of  Hoosac 
Tunnel,    encircled   with   the   declaration    "we   hold    the 

WESTERN   GATEWAY." 

Above  the  waving  branches  of  the  park-enfolded  vale  of 
the  Mayoonsac  and  Ashawaghsac, ■  at  North  Adams,  one  be- 
holds a  multitude  of  church  steeples  and  factory  smoke- 
stacks. Among  the  spires  are  those  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  the  fourth  built  on  the  site  in  1880;  the  Second 
Congregational  Church,  built  in  1865 ;  the  Methodist  Church, 
dedicated  in  1873;  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church,  dedicated 
in  1869,  and  the  Universalist  Church,  built  in  1893.  St. 
Francis's  Irish  Catholic  Church  comprises  nearly  12,000 
members — one  half  of  the  population  of  the  City,  while  the 
French  Notre  Dame  Cathedral  comprises  over  6000  mem- 
bers— one-fourth  of  the  City's  population.  The  Russian 
Jewish  Synagogue,  built  in  1892,  had  forty  members  at 
that  date. 

Among  the  school  towers  are  noted  Drury  Academy  High 
School  on  Colgrove  Hill.  The  pioneer  academies  included 
Eastman's  School  for  Girls  and  Parsons's  School  for  Boys. 
Nathan  Drury  of  Florida  in  1840  equipped  Parsons's  School 
with  chemical  and  physical  apparatus  and  willed  $3000  to 
found  Drury  Academy.  The  Trustees  changed  it  to  Drury 
High  School  in  1851,  and  it  has  sent  forth  many  distinguished 
graduates.  The  Normal  School  and  Mark  Hopkins  Training 
School  on  Church  Street  are  among  the  best  equipped  in  the 
State. 

On  the  slopes  of  Bald  Mountain3  in  the  north  part  of  the 
City  stands  the  North  Adams  Hospital,  dedicated  in  March, 

1  See  Note  I,  at  end  of  volume.  •Clarksburgh  Mountain. 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  473 

1 885.  The  Berkshire  Hills  Sanatorium  in  the  northwest  part 
of  the  City  was  founded  by  Dr.  William  F.  Brown  in  1896. 
It  accommodates  200  patients  and  it  is  the  largest  private 
hospital  in  the  United  States  for  the  treatment  of  sarcoma 
by  the  escharotic  method — surgery  without  the  use  of  a  knife. 


The  State  Normal  College  and  Taconac  Hall,  North  Adams,  Massachusetts. 

Houghton  Memorial  Library  occupies  the  Sandford  Black- 
ington  Mansion.  It  was  a  gift  of  the  Hon.  Albert  C.  Hough- 
ton in  1896  to  the  City,  together  with  $10,000,  as  a  memorial 
to  his  brother,  Andrew  J.  Houghton  of  Boston.  Both  were 
born  in  Stamford,  Vt.  The  library  contains  over  16,000 
volumes  and  manuscripts.  The  Fort  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Rooms  and  Natural  History  Museum  occupy  the 
library  building. 

From  Forest  Park  Observatory,  west  of  McKinley  Square, 
at  Adams  may  be  seen  the  Quaker  Meeting-house  and  ceme- 


474  The  Iloosac  Valley 

tery;  the  spires  of  the  Baptist,  Methodist,  Universalist ; 
Irish,  French  and  Polish  Roman  Catholic  churches,  and  the 
towers  of  the  Town  Hall  and  Memorial  Library;  while 
above  all  looms  Mount  Greylock. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Library  was  laid  by  President 
McKinley  in  1897.  After  his  assassination,  the  citizens  of 
Adams  on  October  10,  1903,  erected  the  first  heroic  statue 
of  the  martyred  president.  Four  bronze  tablets  represent 
the  principal  historic  acts  of  McKinley's  life :  As  Commissary 
Sergeant  during  the  Battle  of  Antietam  in  1862;  Addressing 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  measures  of  the  McKin- 
ley Tariff  Bill ;  Delivering  his  Inaugural  Address,  March  4, 
1897,  at  Washington;  and  a  quotation  from  his  Buffalo 
Address,  delivered  September  6,  1901,  before  his  assassina- 
tion: "  Let  us  remember  that  our  interests  lie  in  Concord,  not 
Conflict,  and  that  our  real  eminence  is  in  the  victories  of 
Peace,  not  those  of  War." 

Susan  B.  Anthony,  the  pioneer  leader  of  the  agitation  for 
women's  rights,  was  born  at  her  grandfather  David  An- 
thony's homestead,  Bowen's  Corner,  two  miles  east  of 
McKinley  Square,  Adams,  on  February  15,  1820.  She  wor- 
shipped in  the  Old  Quaker  Meeting-house  at  the  foot  of 
Greylock,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  taught  a  primary  school 
at  her  home,  charging  neighboring  children  a  dollar  a  week 
for  instruction.  She  completed  her  own  education  at  the 
Friends'  Boarding  School  in  Philadelphia.  Daniel  Anthony, 
her  father,  removed  to  Rochester  neighborhood,  New  York, 
and  Susan  taught  a  school  in  Utica  at  $15.00  a  month 
in  1847,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years.  She  was  asked 
to  resign,  and  the  District  Committee  appointed  a  man  in 
her  place  with  twice  her  salary,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  he  rendered  inferior  service.  This  gross  injustice  to 
her  sex  led  to  her  maiden  speech  on  woman's  rights  in  the 
neighboring  Baptist  Church.     Her  last  visit  to  Adams  was 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  475 

at  a  family  reunion  on  July  30,  1897.  At  that  time  she 
addressed  the  Berkshire  Historical  Society  in  Forest  Park 
Pavilion.  The  David  Anthony  homestead  was  purchased 
by  the  late  Alexander  Horton,  intended   as  a  centre  for 


Memorial  Library,  McKinley  Square,  Adams,  Massachusetts. 
Statue  of  the  martyred  President  McKinley,  the  first  heroic  monument  to 
President  McKinley  erected  in  the  United  States,  igoj. 

"  Let  us  remember  that  our  interests  lie  in  Concord,  not  Conflict,  and  that 
our  real  eminence  is  in  the  victories  of  Peace,  not  those  of  War." — President 
McKinley's  Buffalo  Address  before  his  assassination,  September  6,  igoi. 


Suffragists,  although  the  building  burned  down  soon  after 
Miss  Anthony's  death. 

The  Trout  Hatchery  north  of  Adams  Village  produces 
annually  250,000  trout  to  supply  the  brooks  of  western 
Massachusetts.  On  the  Morey  and  Howland  farms  is  loca- 
ted the  Hoosac  Valley  Park,  opposite  the  Cross  Road,  built 
by  the  Electric  Car  Company  in  189 1.  It  is  an  hour's  ride 
from  Bennington. 


476  The  Hoosac  Valley 

A  broad  view  greets  one  from  the  Battle  Monument  on 
Bennington  Hill,  including  the  "Giants  of  the  Vale": 
Equinox  and  ^olus  on  the  north;  and  the  Dome,  Greylock 
and  Mount  Hopkins  on  the  south ;  while  in  the  shadow  of 
Mount  Anthony  the  spires  of  the  Congregational,  Metho- 
dist, Baptist,  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  and  Roman  Catholic 
churches  point  skyward. 

The  controversy  of  the  Bennington  Centre  post-office  dur- 
ing 1847  resulted  in  Postmaster  John  C.  Haswell's  engaging 
Dickerman  Rider  and  forty  yoke  of  oxen  to  haul  his  office- 
building  down  the  hill  to  the  corner  of  Main  and  South 
streets.  Haswell  was  the  editor  of  the  Vermont  Gazette. 
A  rival  newspaper  was  soon  established  and  the  Washing- 
ton officials  re-established  the  Centre  post-office  and  Post- 
master Haswell  resigned. 

Bennington  Village  was  incorporated  in  1849  and  its 
population  in  1900  was  5656.  The  general  post-office, 
however,  was  established  in  the  village  in  1848  and  the  pres- 
ent Rural  Free  Delivery  System  inaugurated  in  1885. 
The  double  Shire  System  of  Bennington  County  provides 
for  alternate  court  sessions  at  the  half-shire  towns  of  Ben- 
nington and  Manchester.  The  court-house  and  the  jail 
were  erected  on  South  Street  at  Bennington  in  1869,  after 
a  decision  of  a  legislative  committee,  composed  of  Ebenezer 
N.  Briggs  and  Abishai  B.  Harrington. 

Of  the  famous  preachers,  teachers,  and  abolitionists  cen- 
tred about  the  First  Church  at  Bennington  Centre  between 
the  Revolution  and  the  Civil  War  may  be  mentioned  the 
Rev.  Hollis  Read,  the  missionary  author ;  the  Rev.  Absalom 
Peters,  the  "  Father  of  Home  Missions  " ;  William  Lloyd  Gar- 
rison, 1  editor  of  the  Journal  of  the  Times,  and  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Jennings,  author  of  Memorials  of  a  Century.  Mr.  Saunders, 
author  of  several  public  school  books,  found  more  teachers 

1 A  monument  to  Garrison's  memory  stands  on  The  Parade. 


477 


478  The  Hoosac  Valley 

from  Vermont  in  the  Western  and  Southern  United  States 
than  from  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 

Among  the  pioneer  schools  of  Bennington  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Old  Brick  Academy,  south  of  the  Battle  Monu- 
ment ;  Union  Academy  in  Bennington  Village,  built  in  1 82 1 ; 
and  Mount  Anthony  Seminary  and  Bennington  Academy, 
opened  in  1829.  The  Misses  Clark,  and  the  Misses  Carpen- 
ter, Knight,  and  Gould  schools  for  girls  opened  later. 

The  village  of  North  Bennington  is  as  progressive  as 
Bennington.  Among  its  spires  are  those  of  the  Methodist, 
Universalist,  Presbyterian,  and  Roman  Catholic  churches. 
Overlooking  the  picturesque  Falls  Quequick,  east  of  the 
village  of  Hoosac  Falls,  may  be  observed  the  spires  of  the 
First  Baptist  and  St.  Mark's  Episcopal  churches.  The  lat- 
ter church  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Horatio  Potter  in 
i860,  and  the  John  Hobart  Warren  chimes  and  clock  in 
the  tower  cost  $6000.  Nor  is  one  likely  to  overlook  the 
steeple  of  the  Augustian  Fathers  St.  Mary's  Church,  in 
which  is  hung  a  heavy- toned  bell  weighing  2690  pounds,  re- 
echoing among  the  dark  ravines  of  the  encircling  hills. 

The  chimes  of  the  Thompson  Memorial  Chapel  of  Wil- 
liamstown  are  challenged  for  beauty  of  tone  only  by  the 
chimes  of  the  All  Saints'  Episcopal  Chapel  of  Hoosac,  built 
by  George  Mortimer  Tibbits  and  dedicated  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Cummins.  The  chapel  is  built  of  unhewn  stone  and 
cost  $20,000.  But  the  chimes  are  valued  at  $12,000 — the 
smallest  bell  being  a  relic  of  mediaeval  times,  over  five  and 
a  half  centuries  old.  It  was  an  old  bell,  ringing  the  Christ- 
ians to  prayers  in  Europe,  about  the  time  the  French  Father 
of  St.  Ange,  France,  hoisted  the  St.  Croix  banner  in  1540 
among  the  Hoosacs. 

The  pulpit  of  All  Saints'  Chapel  is  occupied  by  the  Rev. 
John  B.  Tibbits  and  his  son,  the  Rev.  Edward  Tibbits,  both 
graduates  of  Williams  College  and  grandsons  of  the  Hon. 


The  Balloon  North  Adams.     The  factory  chimneys  loom 
up  in  the  distance  at  the  base  of  Bald  Mountain  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Range,  North  Adams,  Massachusetts. 
"  Peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  War." 


479 


480  The  Hoosac  Valley- 

George  Tibbits.     The  Hoosac  School  for  Boys  is  under  the 
tutorship  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Tibbits. 

The  Mapleton  Baptist  Church  was  moved  to  the  hill  east 
of  All  Saints'  Chapel  at  Hoosac  in  1824.  A  new  building 
was  built  on  its  site  in  1831  and  remained  standing  until 
1870,  when  the  present  brick  church  was  dedicated. 

The  Old  Baptist  Church  on  the  hill  was  occupied  between 
1849  and  1852  by  Elder  William  Arthur,  father  of  Gen. 
Chester  A.  Arthur.  Young  Arthur  taught  in  the  brown 
schoolhouse  at  North  Pownal  between  1850  and  1852. 
When  in  1852  James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio  was  a  Freshman 
at  Williams,  he  also  taught  penmanship  during  the  evening 
in  the  same  schoolhouse,  and  presided  over  a  Sunday-School 
class  at  the  Congregational  Church.  The  schoolhouse  still 
stands,  but  the  church  burned  recently.  After  President 
Garfield's  assassination,  Vice-President  Arthur  succeeded  to 
the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

The  pioneer  Hoosac  school  committee  in  1796  consisted 
of  Sylvester  Noble,  Peter  D.  Van  Dyck,  John  Comstock, 
and  Joseph  Dorr.  The  system  was  succeeded  by  a  super- 
intendent and  supervisors  in  1844.  Ball  Seminary  was 
incorporated  and  built  in  District  No.  1,  at  Hoosac  Falls 
in  1843,  at  a  cost  of  $3567,  by  the  late  Judge  Levi  Chandler 
Ball,  a  native  of  Wilmington,  Vt.,  where  he  was  born,  1809. 
For  twelve  years  the  Seminary  ranked  first  in  New  York 
State.  The  trustees,  Walter  Abbott  Wood,  the  Rev. 
De  Witt,  and  Charles  H.  Merritt,  later  converted  the 
Seminary  into  Ball's  High  School. 

Among  the  steeples  of  Schaghticoke  Village  may  be  seen 
those  of  the  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Episcopal,  and  Roman 
Catholic  churches.  The  last  mentioned  contains  a  bell 
weighing  1650  pounds,  hung  in  the  tower,  115  feet  above  the 
water  table.     The  parish  consists  of  over  2000  members. 

The  miniature  lake  formed  by  the  dam  of  the  Electrical 


Progress  during  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  Era  481 

Power  Company  above  Hart's  Falls  reminds  one  of  the 
ancient  glacial  lake,  whose  terraced  shores  are  still  discern- 
ible throughout  the  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters.  The 
Troy  Reservoir,  nearly  four  miles  in  length,  occupies  the 
entire  Tomhannac  Valley  east  of  East  Schaghticoke 
Station.  It  is  fed  from  Lake  Babcock  and  Long  Pond, 
located  in  the  Hoosac  Lake  District  of  Grafton. 

A  number  of  years  ago,  the  Fiend  of  Calamity  visited  the 
villagers  of  Schaghticoke  Point  in  the  form  of  a  scourge  and 
hundreds  died.  The  place  became  known  as  the  "Vale  of 
Death"  instead  of  the  "Vale  of  Peace."  Similar  malarious 
vapors,  known  to  the  pioneer  Christians,  were  described  by 
the  poet,  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  Evil  Spirit  of  the  Woods, 
during  1804: 

Now  the  vapor,  hot  and  damp, 
Sheds  the  day's  expiring  lamp, 
Through  the  misty  ether  spreads 
Every  ill  the  white  man  dreads. 

The  close  of  a  Century  of  Progress  in  Hoosac  Valley 
witnesses  not  only  rapid  transit  by  way  of  the  Grand  Barge 
Erie  Canal,  recently  completed  between  Waterford  and 
Chicago,  but  a  National  School  of  Ballooning  founded  in  the 
City  of  North  Adams,  which  is  a  centre  for  balloon  ascen- 
sions in  New  England. 

Among  other  enterprises  is  that  of  the  gladiolus  culture 

in  Berlin  on  the  Little  Hoosac.     The  gorgeous  plants  are 

grown  not  only  for  their  flowers  but  for  stocking  the  world's 

market  with  bulbs. 
31 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

LITERARY    SHRINES    OF    THE  VALLEY    OF   MINGLING  WATERS 

I6IO-I9IO 

Climb  the  mountains  and  get  their  good  tidings.  Nature's  peace  will  flow  into 
you  as  sunshine  flows  into  trees.  The  winds  will  blow  their  own  freshness  into 
you,  and  the  storms  their  energy,  while  cares  will  drop  off  like  autumn  leaves. 

John  Muir. 

Mahican  Muse — Washington  Irving  as  " Diedrich  Knickerbocker" — William 
Cullen  Bryant — Nathaniel  Hawthorne — Henry  David  Thoreau — The 
Towers  of  Mount  Anthony  and  Greylock  Parks — Catherine  Sedgwick — ■ 
Elizabeth  Payson  Prentiss — Helen  Hunt  Jackson — Albert  Hopkins  and 
the  Alpine  Club — Isaac  Jennings — Levi  Chandler  Ball — Hiland  Hall 
— Arthur  Latham  Perry — William  Dwight  Whitney — John  Bascom — 
Thomas   Nelson  Dale. 

THOUSANDS  of  sunrise  worshippers  climb  to  the  sum- 
mits1 of  Greylock  and  Mount  St.  Anthony  to  get  their 
good  tidings.  The  harmonious  colors  mantling  the  undulat- 
ing mountain  waves  of  the  Taconacs  have  in  the  past  thrown 
their  charm  over  the  Mahican  seers,  and  continue  to  inspire 
the  philosophers  of  civilized  nations. 

For  ever,  since  the  world  began,  thy  eye, 
Grey-headed  mount,  hath  been  upon  these  hills. 
Piercing  the  sky,  with  all  thy  sea  of  woods 
Swelling  around  thee,  evermore  thou  art, 
Unto  our  weaker,  earthly  sense,  the  type 
Of  the  Eternal,  changeless  and  alone.2 

*  See  illustrations,  pp.  3-493. 

2  David  Dudley  Field,  Greylock;  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams 
College,  p.  795. 

482 


Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  483 

No  trace  of  the  muse  of  the  Mahicans  has  come  down 
to  us: 

Yet,  perchance,  the  Indian  hunter, 

Many  a  lagging  year  agone, 
Gliding  o'er  thy  rippling  waters 

Lowly  hummed  a  natural  song. x 

The  Pilgrim  sailors  who  survived  the  perilous  voyages  of 
the  Half-Moon  and  of  the  staunch  Mayflower,  built  their 
chapels  on  the  sites  of  the  Hoosacs'  shrines  of  Manitou  and 
Hobbamocko.  Here  where  their  Moodus  seers  held  their 
pow-wows,  our  bards  and  philosophers  have  trod : 

'Mong  the  deep-cloven  fells  that  for  ages  have  listened 
To  the  rush  of  the  pebble-paved  river  between, 

In  the  old  mossy  groves  on  the  breast  of  the  mountain 
In  deep  lonely  glens  where  the  waters  complain.2 

The  Hoosac  hunting-grounds  are  as  ancient  as  Great 
Unami,  the  fabled  tortoise  that  dwelt  along  the  fern-shaded 
shore  of  the  Cambrian  Sea,  ebbing  at  the  base  of  Greylock 
and  Mount  St.  Anthony,  ages  before  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the 
Taconacs  marked  the  devious  course  of  its  lakes  and  rivers. 
In  the  old  gray  town  of  Tawasentha  (the  place  of  the  many 
dead)  mingles  the  dust  of  the  Lenni-Lenape  Kings  from  the 
unknown  shores  of  ukhkopeck  beyond  the  sea. 

The  ancient  breccia  obelisks  on  the  lower  Hoosac  mark 
the  shrines  of  Manitou  and  Hobbamocko,  although  the  names 
of  the  Hoosac  pow-wow  poets  have  been  forgotten,  and 
English  grass  flourishes  over  their  tombs.  Thoreau  said: 
"  Heroes  survive  storms  and  the  spears  of  their  foes,  and 
perform  a  few  heroic  deeds,  and  then : 

1  Thoreau,  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimac  Rivers,  p.  306. 

2  Bryant,  "I  cannot  Forget  with  what  Fervid  Devotion" 


484  The  Hoosac  Valley 

*  Mounds  will  answer  questions  of  them, 
For  many  future  years.'  " 

Goethe,  in  his  Italian  Travels,  says  that  the  peasants 
brought  up  in  that  country  looked  over  their  shoulders  at 
their  ruined  towers :  "  That  they  might  behold  with  their  own 
eyes  what  I  had  praised  to  their  ears,  .  .  .  and  I  added 
nothing,  not  even  the  ivy  which  for  centuries  had  decorated 
the  walls." 

Strangers  have  come  to  erect  a  tower  to  the  memory  of  the 
departed  warriors  of  Wappanachki,  on  the  shores  of  their 
ebbing  Unami  Sea,  near  the  statue  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty. ■ 
It  is  hoped  that  those  born  and  brought  up  in  the  shadow  of 
Greylock,  Mount  Anthony,  and  the  Witenagemot  Oak,  will 
also  look  over  their  shoulders  and  behold  "  with  their  own 
eyes,"  the  moss-grown  shrines  of  the  Hoosacs  and  Schaghti- 
cokes,  and  cast  a  stone  on  a  cairn  to  their  memory. 

Hither  the  silent  Indian  maid 
Brought  wreaths  of  beads  and  flowers, 
And  the  gray  chief  and  gifted  seer 
Worshipped  the  god  of  thunders  here.2 

The  poet,  Bryant,  in  the  ancient  Legends  of  the  Delawares 
and  Mohicans,  relates  that  Onetho,  the  bowyer-chief ,  beheld 
the  whiteman's  lightning  arrows  of  the  sky  overthrow  his 
nation's  council  oak.  He  procured  the  polished  weapon 
and  was  later  slain  himself  in  his  favorite  Bellows'- Pipe 
hunting-grounds,  at  the  eastern  base  of  Mount  Greylock. 
Onetho's  spirit  still  haunts  the  Vale  and  breathing  hard 
sends: 

The  shower  of  fiery  arrows  round. 

The  English  pioneers  of  Northfield  and  Springfield  behold- 

1  John  Wanamaker,  Jr.,  Paris,  France,  proposed  Indian  statue  to  be  erected 
on  Staten  Island,  New  York  City. 

2  Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial-Place  of  his  Fathers. 


The  Iron  Tower  on  the  bald  Summit  of  Mount  Greylock.     The  Summit  is  3505 
feet  above  sea  level  and  the  Tower  is  50  feet  high. 
0  thou  Greylock,  graceful  monarch! 

Thou  art  king  of  all  this  land; 
And  thus  travellers  look  with  pleasure 
From  thy  summit  to  the  strand. 

Where  we  now  thus  tread  so  softly, 

In  the  million  years  gone  by, 
Here  the  rolling  waves  have  wandered, 
Like  clouds  against  the  sunrise  sky. 

Louis  Edward  Niles,  Mount  Greylock. 
485 


486  The  Hoosac  Valley 

ing  the  " Giants  of  the  Northwest*'  capped  with  a  grey-lock 
of  mist  at  sunrise  or  a  cloudy  nightcap  at  sunset,  christened 
the  highest  summit  Grey-Lock1  after  the  frowning  chieftain 
of  the  Woronoaks,  who  wore  a  grey-lock  of  hair.  From 
Lake  Onota  in  Pittsfield,  Greylock  and  Mount  Griffin 
resemble  a  gigantic  horseman's  saddleback  10,000  feet 
in  length  by  600  feet  in  depth.  Hawthorne  during  his 
stage  ride  from  Pittsfield  to  North  Adams,  July  26,  1838, 2 
sat  outside  with  the  driver,  Piatt,  leaving  the  newly  mar- 
ried couple  inside  the  coach  "to  their  love-pats  and 
benign  expressions  of  matrimonial  sweetness."  Upon 
arriving  at  Adams,  Hawthorne  inquired  the  name  of  the 
mountain  rising  upon  his  left.  Piatt  informed  him  that 
"it  was  a  very  high  hill,"  known  as  Greylock,  a  name  which 
he  greatly  preferred  to  the  Pittsfielders'  designation  of 
Saddleback.  This  is  evidently  the  first  record  of  the  name 
Greylock  for  the  highest  of  the  Berkshire  Hills.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  in  September,  1850,  read  a  dedicatory  poem 
at  the  opening  of  Pittsfield  Cemetery,  in  which  he  refers  to 
the  Ragged  Mountains  about  the  base  of  the  "  Twin- thrones" 
of  the  "  Giants  of  the  North"  as : 

The  huge  shapes,  that  crouching  at  their  knees, 
Stretch  their  broad  shoulders,  rough  with  shaggy  trees. 

The  savage  character  of  the  forests  of  the  lower  Hoosac 
was  described  by  Mrs.  Sigourney  of  Hartford,  in  her  poem 
Schaghticoke  and  the  Knickerbackers.  The  Irish  poet,  Thomas 
Moore,  visited  the  region  during  the  summer  of  1804,  and 
in  his  poem  of  Cohoes  Falls  was  not  unmindful  of  the  wood 
of  pine  and  the  rainbows  arching  in  the  sunlit  mist  above  the 
leaping  waters. 

About  the  same  time  that  Moore  visited  Cohoes  Falls, 

'"Greylock  Park  Reservation,"  New  Eng.  Mag.,  Dec.,  191 1. 
a Hawthorne,  American  Note-Book. 


487 


488  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Washington  Irving,  under  the  assumed  name,  "Diedrich 
Knickerbocker,"  was  writing  the  legends  of  Rip  Van  Winkle 
and  the  Bully  Boys  of  Helderberg  Mountains.  His  Knicker- 
bocker's History  of  New  York  was  published  in  1809.  Young 
Irving  formed  a  life-long  friendship  with  Herman  Jansen 
Knickerbacker,  son  of  Col.  Johannes  Knickerbacker  2d. 
During  Irving's  visits  to  the  Old  Mansion  at  Schaghticoke, 
it  was  his  delight  to  listen  to  Uncle  Tom's  ghost  and  witch 
tales,  and  the  adventures  of  Ethan  Allen,  Ignace  Kipp,  and 
the  Yankee  schoolmaster,  Mallery,  of  "Spook  Hollow' '  and 
Schaghticoke  Plains. 

The  rusty,  black  coat,  olive-velvet  breeches,  and  small 
cocked  hat  of  "Grandfather  Knick"  himself,  worn  by  the 
historian,  "Diedrich  Knickerbocker,"  together  with  the 
old  pigskin-covered  chest  and  saddle-bags  of  his  Friesland 
and  Masterlandt  ancestors  were  all  stern  realities  to  young 
Irving  and  the  Knickerbacker  boys,  who  acted  charades  in 
the  attic  of  the  "Hostead"  on  rainy  days.  Indeed,  there 
are  still  stored  many  quaint  relics  of  the  good  old  manorial 
days  of  Dutch  Hoosac. 

Irving  in  his  musings  on  death  that  appear  in  the  Knicker- 
bocker's History  of  New  York  says : 

Such  are  my  feelings  when  I  visit  the  family  Mansion  of 
the  Knickerbockers,  and  spend  a  lonely  hour  in  the  chamber 
where  hang  the  portraits  of  my  forefathers,  shrouded  in 
dust,  like  the  forms  they  represent.  With  pious  reverence 
do  I  gaze  on  the  countenances  of  those  renowned  burghers, 
who  have  preceded  me  in  the  steady  march  for  existence, — 
whose  sober  and  temperate  blood  now  meanders  through 
my  veins,  flowing  slower  in  its  feeble  conduits,  until  its 
currents  shall  soon  be  stopped  forever ! 

Irving's  musings  on  death,  to  which  Bryant  had  access 
at  college,  in  1810-1811,  may  have  given  him  the  impetus 
for  the  first  draft  of  Thanatopsis. 


Flora's  Glen,  Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  known  to-day  as  Thanatopsis 
Glen.  The  poet,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  while  a  Sophomore  at  Williams,  in 
1810-1811,  is  reported  to  have  composed  the  first  draft  of  his  great  poem  on 
Death  in  this  rock-ribbed  vale. 

Go  forth,  under  the  open  sky,  and  list 
To  Nature's  teachings. 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  Thanatopsis. 
489 


49°  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Irving's  meditations  on  death,  however,  were  written 
in  the  "narrow  house,"  in  full  view  of  the  Schaghticoke  and 
Knickerbacker  burial-field,  where  the  Witenagemot  Oak 
could  send  its  roots  abroad  and  pierce  the  mould  of  the  seers 
of  ages  past.  Bryant's  musings  were  conducted  "  under  the 
open  sky"  in  Flora's  Glen,  two  miles  west  of  Williams 
College  campus.     He  says : 

When  thoughts 
Of  the  last  bitter  hour  come  like  a  blight 
Over  thy  spirit,  and  sad  images 
And  breathless  darkness,  and  the  narrow  house, 
Make  thee  to  shudder,  and  grow  sick  at  heart ; — 
Go  forth,  under  the  open  sky,  and  list 
To  Nature's  teachings. 

Irving,  beholding  the  portraits  of  his  forefathers  on  the 
walls  of  his  silent  chamber  in  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion, 
said: 

These,  I  say  to  myself,  are  but  frail  memorials  of  the 
worthy  men  who  flourished  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs, 
but  who,  alas,  have  long  since  mouldered  in  the  tomb  toward 
which  my  steps  are  insensibly  and  irresistibly  hastening. 
Carried  away  by  the  delusions  of  my  fancy,  I  almost  imagine 
myself  surrounded  by  the  shades  of  the  departed,  and  hold- 
ing sweet  converse  with  the  worthies  of  antiquity. 

It  was  believed  that  Irving  in  1808  had  the  dread  disease, 
consumption.  He  later  visited  England  for  his  health. 
The  poet,  Bryant,  closes  Thanatopsis  with  a  measured  strain 
similar  to  that  of  Irving: 

Yet  not  to  thine  eternal  resting-place 
Shalt  thou  retire  alone,  nor  couldst  thou  wish 
Couch  more  magnificent.     Thou  shalt  lie  down 


49i 


492  The  Hoosac  Valley 

With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world — with  kings, 
The  powerful  of  the  earth — the  wise,  the  good 
Fair  forms,  and  hoary  seers  of  ages  past, 
All  in  one  mighty  sepulchre     .     .     . 

By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave, 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

During  Bryant's  sojourn  of  seven  months  at  Williams 
College,  his  room-mate,  John  Avery,  accompanied  him  on 
long  walks  to  all  the  glens,  water-falls,  and  historic  battle- 
fields in  the  Valley.  The  poet,  in  a  satire  entitled  Descriptio 
Gulielmo polls,  written  during  the  spring  of  1811,  confesses 
that: 

Amid  these  vales  I  touched  the  lyre, 
Where  devious  Hoosac  rolls  his  floods. ' 

In  his  poem  Green  River,  he  describes  the  stream  with  its 
waters  of  green,  and  colored  pebbles  and  sparkles  of  light. 
His  Inscription  for  the  Entrance  to  a  Wood  pictures  Flora's 
Glen. 

The  mossy  rocks  themselves, 
And  the  old  and  ponderous  trunks  of  prostrate  trees 
That  lead  from  knoll  to  knoll  a  causey  rude 

Or  bridge  the  sunken  brook. 

The  first  drafts  of  Thanatopsis,  Earth,  Hymn  to  Death, 
and  many  other  poems  are  believed  to  have  been  made  in 
Flora's  Glen  by  Bryant  between  October,  1 8 1  o,  and  May,  1 8 1 1 . 
The  hallowed  shrine  is  known  as  Thanatopsis  Glen,  located 
at  the  foot  of  "Bee  Hill,"  near  the  entrance  to  Hemlock 
Glen  Road.  Charles  Woodbury  once  accompanied  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  to  the  spot  and  remarked  that  "it  was  a 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  340-341. 


493 


494  The  Hoosac  Valley 

place  apt  to  suggest  the  thoughts  found  in  Thanatopsis." 
Emerson  himself  was  moved  to  recite  Wordsworth's  Excur- 
sion to  his  companion  in  the  glen.  The  author-critic, 
Hamilton  Wright  Mabie,  in  his  chapter,  "The  Mountain 
Brook,"  published  in  his  volume,  Under  the  Trees  and  Else- 
where, describes  Flora's  Glen  as  the  birthplace  of  the 
"noblest  poem  on  Death  ever  written."  The  romantic 
"rock-ribbed"  ravine  is  a  hallowed  shrine  not  only  for 
Williams  College  Alumni  but  for  foreign  tourists  visiting 
Williamstown.  It  was  a  favorite  haunt  of  Cornelia  Grin- 
nell  Willis,  wife  of  the  poet,  Nathaniel  P.  Willis,  and 
Theodore  F.  Wolfe  mentions  the  sequestered  glen  in  his 
Literary  Shrines.  The  artist-naturalist,  Hamilton  Gibson, 
resided  during  1885  at  a  farm-house  on  "Bee  Hill"  above 
Flora's  Glen,  while  writing  Bright  Eyes  and  other  nature 
studies. 

Among  the  historians  of  the  Hoosac  and  Walloomsac  may- 
be mentioned  Isaac  Jennings,  author  of  Memorials  of  a 
Century.  It  is  a  local  history  of  the  Old  First  Church  of 
Bennington  Centre  and  of  Walloomsac  folk,  published  in 
1 869.  Gov.  Hiland  Hall  wrote  his  Early  History  of  Vermont, 
published  in  1868,  at  his  home  in  North  Bennington.  Later 
Judge  Levi  Chandler  Ball  published  his  Annals  of  Hoosac, 
and  Arthur  Latham  Perry  his  invaluable  Origins  in  Wil- 
liamstown and  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  in  1896 
and  1899.  T.  Nelson  Dale  has  published  the  Geological 
History  of  Mount  Greylock,  and  of  the  Hoosac  Pass  of  the 
Taconacs. 

During  1825,  a  party  of  Williams  College  students,  headed 
by  David  Dudley  Field,  the  orator  of  his  class,  paid  their 
reverence  to  the  famous  French  General,  La  Fayette,  on 
The  Square  at  Pittsfield.  Later,  Marquis  La  Fayette  visited 
Henry  Harteau's  Mansion  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Greylock 
in  Adams.     The  story  reads  that  the  gallant  General,  while 


Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  495 

there,  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  American  lady,  who  was 
engaged  to  an  American  officer. 

Washington  Irving,  known  as  "Sunny-side  Penman" 
of  the  Hudson  Valley,  belongs  also  to  Hoosac  Valley  fame. 
He  died,  November  28,  1863,  and  Joseph  Foster  Knicker- 
backer,  the  "Poet  of  the  Vale"  in  Old  Schaghticoke,  wrote 
an  In  Memoriam  to  Irving,  published  in  his  Visions  of  the 
Arch  of  Truth  and  Other  Poems  in  1876.  The  Arch  of  Truth 
represents  "A  lofty,  over-circled  gateway  or  entrance  to 
Courts  of  surpassing  glory  and  adornment,  opening  to  the 
abodes  of  Immortality."  Such  an  arch,  surmounted  by  a 
dove,  leads  to  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion  to-day.  It  was 
erected  by  the  "Poet  of  the  Vale."  General  La  Fayette 
visited  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion  in  1825,  and  it  is  said 
that  he  occupied  the  southeast  chamber  that  still  contains 
the  high-posted  bedstead,  adorned  with  canopy  and  valance. 

Mount  St,  Anthony,  east  of  the  site  of  Fort  St.  Croix, 
was  designated  in  memory  of  the  first  Jesuit  missionary, 
St.  Antoine,  born  at  Padua,  Italy,  by  the  Jesuit  Father 
accompanying  Jean  Allefonsce's  French  traders  from  St. 
Ange  up  the  Grande  River  of  the  Mountains  in  1540.  St. 
Croix  Creek  was  christened  Walloon  Creek  in  1630  by  the 
Protestant  French  Walloons  from  the  Rhone  Valley,  although 
the  river  is  known  to-day  as  Walloomsac.  At  least  three 
different  towers  have  been  built  on  Mount  Anthony.  Each 
has  fallen  before  the  angry  blast  of  Boreas.  Mount  Anthony 
is  now  a  part  of  Colgate's  Park,  adorned  with  winding  roads 
with  vistas  along  the  mountain-side. 

The  Cave  of  St.  Anthony  is  located  on  the  northeastern 
slope  of  the  mountain,  and  is  entered  by  a  very  small  fissure 
in  the  rocks,  which  widens  after  a  descent  of  twenty  feet. 
Later  one  confronts  the  humiliating  problem  of  a  solid  wall 
with  only  a  yawning  arch  two  feet  high  at  its  base.  If  one 
would  behold  the  glittering  halls  where  once  flowed  the 


496  The  Hoosac  Valley 

glacial  Lake  Bascom,  he  must  stoop  and  crawl  in  the  mud 
like  the  Hoosacs'  fabled  turtle,  Unami. 

The  Cave  of  Mount  ^Eolus  is  located  twenty-five  miles 
northward  in  the  Walloomsac  Gap,  and  is  similar  in  structure 
to  the  Cave  of  St.  Anthony,  and  has  been  explored  sixty 
rods.  One  of  its  halls  is  nine  rods  long  and  four  wide, 
adorned  with  crystal  pillars  and  containing  a  lakelet.  Dur- 
ing 1868,  Prof.  Charles  H.  Hitchcock  and  his  Amherst  class 
in  geology  christened  Dorset  Mountain,  Mount  ^olus. 
The  legend  reads  that  the  old  Wind  King  fled  from  the 
fabled  halls  of  Stromboli  in  Greece,  and  took  up  his  abode 
in  the  marble  caves  of  the  Taconacs.  The  King  himself 
resides  in  ^Eolus  Cave,  and  his  servants,  the  North,  South, 
East,  and  West  winds,  in  neighboring  caves.  E.  Parter 
Dyer  wrote  the  christening  chorus,  sung  by  the  students, 
while  Professor  Hitchcock  broke  a  bottle  of  pure  spring 
water  on  Platform  Rock  near  the  entrance  of  the  Cave. 

This  Mountain  grand,  henceforth  all  men 

Mount  ^Eolus  shall  call, 
'Till  earth  shall  sink  and  loose  again 

The  giants,  mighty  thrall.1 

Mount  Greylock,  twenty  miles  south  of  Mount  Anthony, 
together  with  Equinox  and  JEolus,  are  called  the  "Giants  of 
the  Vale."  Hawthorne2  during  the  summer  of  1838,  and 
Thoreau3  during  the  summer  of  1846,  explored  Mount  Grey- 
lock.  Hawthorne  loved  best  to  saunter  to  the  Cave  of  the 
Mayoonsac  Valley,  north  of  the  city  of  North  Adams,  or 
through  the  Notch  to  the  Bellows'-Pipe,  and  thence  down 
the  Southern  Notch  to  the  Hathaway  homestead  and  Quaker 
Meeting-house.     A  mile  below  the  meeting-house  he  met 

1  Abby  Hemingway's  Vermont  Historical  Gazetteer. 

*  American  Note-Book. 

*  Week  on  Concord  and  Merrimac  Rivers. 


Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  497 

Piatt,  the  stage-driver,  who  gave  him  a  free  ride  to  the 
''Whig  Tavern"  in  the  North  Village. 

Hawthorne  describes  Piatt  as  a  "lath-like,  round-backed, 
rough-bearded,  thin-visaged  "  fellow,  who  boasted  that  he 
was  the  first  man  to  drive  an  ox-team  to  the  summit  of 
Grey  lock,  when  the  first  tower  was  built.  He  was  headed 
by  Pres.  Edward  Dorr  Griffin  of  Williams  College  riding 
on  horseback,  and  was  forced  to  drive  in  a  circle  about  the 
mountain  with  his  timber.  The  date  of  the  building  of 
Griffin's  Tower  on  Mount  Greylock  is  unknown,  although  it 
was  long  before  1833,  since  President  Griffin  had  a  stroke 
of  paralysis  that  season.  However,  when  Hawthorne 
visited  Notch  Valley  in  1838,  the  Tower  had  been  destroyed 
a  number  of  years. 

The  second  tower  on  Greylock  was  built  in  1841  and  was 
known  as  Albert  Hopkins's  Meteorological  Observatory. 
Professor  Hopkins  and  tutor  James  Henry  Coffin  headed 
several  "Bees"  and  the  Hopper  farmers  aided  in  building 
the  tower.  The  timber  was  sawed  at  Pettit's  saw-mill  on 
the  Hopper  Brook.  The  first  story  consisted  of  a  cubical 
blockhouse,  twenty  feet  square.  To  this  were  added  two 
retreating  stories  of  framed  timber,  each  twenty  feet  high. z 

Between  1841  and  18502  barometers,  self -registering  ther- 
mometers, wind-registers,  and  other  meteorological  instru- 
ments were  placed  in  the  chamber  of  the  third  story.  The 
building  later  fell  into  decay  and  finally  burned  in  1857, 

Hawthorne,  between  July  26th  and  September  15,  1838, 
gives  vivid  descriptions  in  his  American  Note-Book  of  "the 
rude,  rough,  rocky,  stumpy,  ferny  pastures"  of  "rugged, 
headlong  Berkshire,"  where  Greylock  uprears  his  shaggy 
head  covered  with  primeval  forests.  He  considered  the 
Hoosac  Highlands  a  "most  romantic  and  picturesque  coun- 

1  Dr.  John  Bascom,  Greylock  Reservation,  1907. 

2  William  D.  Porter,  Class  1850. 

32 


498  The  Hoosac  Valley 

try."  Emerson  thought  Greylock  "a  serious  mountain"; 
and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  later  said:  "Such  a  country  never 
ceases  to  astonish  and  please.  ...  It  is  everlasting  com- 
pany to  you.  It  is,  indeed,  just  like  some  choice  companion 
of  rich  heart  and  genial  imagination,  never  twice  alike,  in 
mood,  in  conversation,  in  radiant  sobriety,  or  half-bright 
sadness,  bold,  tender,  deep,  various." 

Hawthorne  often  sat  tilted  back  in  his  arm-chair  on  the 
porch  of  the  North  Adams  House  and  observed  the  loungers 
about  the  steps.  He  describes  "Captain  Gavitt,"  believed 
to  have  been  Capt.  Jeremiah  Colgrove,  as  a  type  of  the 
pioneer  Rhode  Island  Baptist  settlers,  who  founded  "Slab 
City,"  now  North  Adams.  The  old  gentleman  sold  butter- 
nut meats  and  maple  sugar  while  dispensing  free  philosophy 
on  the  contentment  of  old  age. 

Among  other  characters  mentioned  by  Hawthorne  may 
be  named:  "Little  boy  Joe" — a  lad  of  four  summers  who 
lived  in  the  street,  and  begged  of  the  loungers  for  figs,  and 
invariably  received  "quids  of  tobacco."  The  one-armed 
Daniel  Haynes,  known  as  "Black  Hawk"  and  "The  Elder," 
descended  from  the  Haynes  family  of  Hoosac  and  Benning- 
ton. He  was  a  prosperous  pettifogger  until  he  lost  his  right 
arm  through  a  buzz-saw.  That  misfortune  led  to  his  Ben- 
nington girl  jilting  him,  after  which  he  became  the  famous 
Recluse  of  Willow  Dell,  on  the  "Clay  Road"  at  the  foot  of 
Colgrove  Hill  in  North  Adams,  where  he  turned  his  talent 
to  condensing  ashes  to  lye  as  well  as  to  the  manufacturing 
of  soft  soap.  His  slab-hut,  covered  with  sods,  stood  on  the 
bank  of  the  tumbling  Mayoonsac;  and  its  site  was  pointed 
out  to  the  writer,  August  19,  1903,  by  the  late  venerable 
Jeremiah  Wilbur.  As  a  lad  of  fourteen,  Mr.  Wilbur  piloted 
Hawthorne  through  the  Notch  Valley  to  his  grandfather, 
Jeremiah  Wilbur's  Bellows'-Pipe  Farm.  Daniel  Haynes  sup- 
plied Landlord  James  Wilbur,  father  of  the  late  Jeremiah 


Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  499 

Wilbur,  with  soft  soap,  at  his  tavern,  now  known  as  Richmond 
House,  between  1829  and  his  death  in  1848.  Haynes  owned 
two  large  dogs,  which  he  hitched  to  a  cart  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  grease  from  the  villagers  in  exchange  for  soap. 
The  blacksmith,  Wetherell  of  Willow  Dell,  part  of  whose 
shops  stands  to-day,  was  regarded  by  Hawthorne  as  an 
interesting  exemplar  of  the  progressive  Yankee.  He  was 
enormous  in  front  as  well  as  in  the  rear,  and  regardless  of 
the  opinions  of  his  neighbors  came  regularly  to  the  "Whig 
Tavern"  bar  to  get  his  "toddy-sticks"  of  rock  and  rye. 
This  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  conduct  of  the  one- 
armed,  cowardly  Haynes,  whom  Hawthorne  later  figured 
as  "Lawyer  Giles,"  the  "elderly  ragamuffin"  in  the  tale  of 
Ethan  Brand,  which  is  located  about  the  site  of  Farnham's 
lime-kiln,  at  the  base  of  Ragged  Mountain. 

Later,  Thoreau  heard  much  of  the  Notch  and  Bellows'- 
Pipe  hunting-grounds  from  Hawthorne.  During  the  sum- 
mer of  1846,  he  came  alone  and  on  foot  from  Concord  on  the 
Merrimac  over  the  "Forbidden  Hoosac  Mountain."  He 
sauntered  through  the  Bellows'-Pipe  and  thence  climbed  to 
the  summit  of  Mount  Greylock  to  hear  the  whispering  winds. 

And  ever,  if  you  hearken  well, 
You  still  may  hear  its  vesper  bell, 
And  tread  of  high-souled  men  go  by, 
Their  thoughts  conversing  with  the  sky. x 

Thoreau  described  the  breaking  of  the  white  light  of  dawn 
from  Hopkins's  Observatory  on  Mount  Greylock,  and  said 
that  when  the  sun  began  to  rise,  he  found  himself  "a  dweller 
in  the  dazzling  halls  of  Aurora,  into  which  poets  have  had 
but  a  partial  glance  over  the  eastern  hills  ...  in  the  very 
path  of  the  Sun's  chariot,  enjoying  the  far-darting  glances 
of  the  gods. "     He  adds :  "All  around  beneath  me  was  spread 

1  Thoreau,  A  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimac  Rivers,  p.  229. 


5oo  The  Hoosac  Valley 

for  a  hundred  miles  on  every  side,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  an  undulating  country  of  clouds,  answering  in  the 
varied  swell  of  its  surface  to  the  terrestrial  world  it  veiled.  It 
was  such  a  country  as  we  might  see  in  dreams,  with  all  the 
delights  of  paradise."  x 

The  "Hopper"  and  the  "Heart  of  Grey  lock"  are  located 
on  the  western  slope  of  the  range.  The  former  is  an  amphi- 
theatre resembling  a  miller's  hopper.  It  is  enclosed  on  the 
north  by  Simonds  Peak  of  Prospect  Range  and  on  the 
south  by  "Stony  Ledge,"  between  which  Hopper  Brook2 
has  eroded  a  deep  pass  to  Green  River.  The  soluble  rock 
removed  from  the  Hopper,  according  to  Thomas  Nelson 
Dale,  the  geologist,  would,  if  inverted,  form  a  pyramid  1500 
feet  high  with  a  base  a  mile  square. 

"Stony  Ledge"  was  known  to  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  as 
the  "Bald-pate  of  the  Lion  Couchant,"  often  designated 
by  Williamstown  people  as  "Bald  Mountain."  There  are 
three  other  Bald  Mountains  between  North  Adams  and 
Bennington.  The  writer  ventures  to  rechristen  the  peak 
Mount  Bascom,  in  memory  of  Dr.  John  Bascom  of  Williams 
College,  a  commissioner  and  a  good  friend  of  Mount  Grey- 
lock  Park.  During  1849,  Professor  Hopkins  led  a  picnic 
party,  including  Catherine  Sedgwick  and  her  Stockbridge 
friends,  to  the  "Bald-pate  of  the  Lion  Couchant,"  to  behold 
the  grandeur  of  the  Berkshire  Hills.  Fanny  Kemble  once 
declaimed  Romeo  and  Juliet  to  a  picnic  party  from  Hop- 
kins's Observatory,  and  Charlotte  Cushman,  Rose  Terry 
Cooke,  "Godfrey  Grey  lock,"  and  Marion  Crawford  have 
climbed  to  the  bald  brow  of  the  old  chieftain  Greylock 
to  behold  the  smiles  of  the  gods. 

The  dark  recesses  of  the  amphitheatre  of  the  Hopper  har- 
bored sometime  between  1765  and  1783  a  gang  of  counter- 

1  Thoreau,  A  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimac  Rivers,  pp.  245-246. 
a  See  illustrations,  pp.  165-175. 


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502  The  Hoosac  Valley 

feiters.  They  built  their  cabin  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Hop- 
per Brook,  known  as  Money  Brook.  Here  many  Spanish 
dollars  and  possibly  Pine-Tree  shillings  were  hammered  out. 
A  Williamstown  hunter  overheard  the  money-makers  at  the 
anvil  and  reported  them  to  Justice  Samuel  Kellogg,  who 
succeeded  in  capturing  only  their  chest  of  tools.  During 
1786,  Caleb  Gardner,  son  of  Capt.  Caleb  Gardner  of  Han- 
cock Tavern,  was  hanged  at  Albany  for  passing  counterfeit 
Spanish  dollars  that  were  undoubtedly  hammered  out  by 
the  Money  Brook  gang. 

In  1863,  sixty  Williams  College  students  volunteered  their 
services  during  the  Civil  War,  including  Lieut.  Edward 
Payson  Hopkins,  the  only  child  of  Prof.  Albert  and  Louise 
Payson  Hopkins.  Mrs.  Hopkins  died  during  January,  1862. 
Her  widowed  sister,  Elizabeth  Payson  Prentiss,  and  her  chil- 
dren resided  for  a  time  in  Professor  Hopkins's  home.  Mrs. 
Prentiss  wrote  Stepping  Heavenward,  Susie's  Six  Birthdays, 
Aunt  Jane's  Hero,  and  The  Home  at  Greylock.  The  last 
mentioned  tale  is  said  to  be  descriptive  of  the  home  of  Mark 
Hopkins  in  Williamstown.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson,  author 
of  the  Indian  romance,  Ramona,  also  frequented  President 
Hopkins's  home.  She  wrote  a  short  story  about  the  servant 
girl  of  Professor  Smith  from  Maine  and  the  meddlesome 
Deacon's  wife,  published  in  the  Demorest  Monthly  Magazine. 
It  is  descriptive  of  a  newly  married  Professor's  home  life  in 
aristocratic  Williamstown. 

During  the  sad  year  1863,  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  organized 
the  Alpine  Club — the  first  organization  of  its  kind  in  this 
country,  for  mountain  climbing.1  The  White  Mountain 
Club  was  organized  in  1873;  the  Rocky  Mountain  Club 
in  1875;  and  the  Appalachian  Mountain  Club  in  1876. 
Between  May  2,  1863,  and  November  29,  1865,  the  Alpine 
Club   made   fifty-six   excursions.     One   of   the   interesting 

1  Samuel  H.  Scudder,  Appalachia,  iv.,  pp.  45-54,  November  12,  1884. 


Literary  Shrines  of  the  Valley  503 

papers  chronicled  by  Professor  Hopkins  was  entitled,  Baco- 
nian Reminiscences,  or  the  Short  and  Simple  Annals  of  the 
Poor  House,  It  describes  the  Club's  encampment  at  Bacon's 
Poor  House,  located  on  Mount  Bascom  in  Bacon  Park,  dur- 
ing November,  1864.  Nine  members  ascended  the  steep 
western  face  of  Mount  Grey  lock.  Later  the  Alpine  Club's 
camp-ground  was  chosen  by  the  Rev.  John  Denison  on 
Camp  Brook,  located  on  the  south  side  of  Bacon  Park,  over- 
looking the  "Heart  of  Grey  lock" — an  amphitheatre  similar 
to  the  Hopper  designated  by  Professor  Hopkins.  Nearly  all 
the  places  of  picturesque  and  historic  interest  of  the  upper 
Hoosac  were  christened  by  Professor  Hopkins  and  the  Alpine 
Club,  Dr.  John  Bascom,  and  Prof.  Arthur  Latham  Perry. 

The  March  Cataract  of  Bacon  Brook  is  located  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Hopper.  It  is  formed  from  the 
melting  snows  during  March  and  leaps  down  the  steep 
western  face  of  Greylock  over  a  semicircular,  rocky  ravine, 
adorned  with  hanging  mosses.  Wawbeek  and  Sky  Falls 
lie  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  Hopper.  They  rise  on  a 
fork  of  Money  Brook,  near  the  brow  of  Mount  Fitch,  and 
descend  over  2000  feet  down  to  the  floor  of  the  amphitheatre 
south  of  Wilbur  Park.  They  are  considered  the  highest 
permanent  waterfalls  in  Massachusetts,  and  were  discovered 
by  Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  while  leading  the  Alpine  Club  in 
June,  1869.     He  says: 

The  falls  are  in  a  dell  so  deep  and  lonely,  that  to  most 
persons  they  are  destined  to  remain  among  the  myths  of 
Greylock.  Only  those  who  have  beheld  the  Notch  and 
the  Inner  Hopper,  or  Hopper  within  the  Hopper,  are  able 
to  appreciate  the  tremendous  powers  that  have  nearly  over- 
thrown the  Chieftain  Greylock  himself. 

A  cloud-burst  took  place  in  the  Hopper,  which  resulted  in 
an  avalanche  that  cleared  the  rocky  terraces  for  a  distance 


504  The  Hoosac  Valley 

of  iooo  feet.  The  members  of  the  Alpine  Club  visited  the 
place,  November  4,  1865.  Another  cloud-burst  occurred  on 
the  eastern  face  of  Grey  lock  in  August,  1902  *  that  denuded 
the  " Chief tain's-st airway"  from  the  summit  down,  stair 
by  stair  to  Gould's  Farm  in  Adams. 

Prof.  Albert  Hopkins  died  May  24,  1872.  At  that  time 
he  was  preparing  an  illustrated  book  entitled  The  Mountains 
and  the  Months,  It  was  to  contain  descriptive  sketches 
from  White  Oaks  and  scenes  among  the  Hoosac  Highlands, 
compiled  from  notes  made  afield  with  the  students  of  Wil- 
liams on  Mountain  Days  and  with  the  members  of  the 
Alpine  Club.  He  was  borne  to  his  grave  in  College  Ceme- 
tery, Mission  Park,  just  as  a  glorious  rainbow  spanned  the 
valley  from  the  Taconacs  on  the  west  to  Alberta's  Range  of 
the  Green  Mountains.  The  bell  in  the  tower  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  still  tolls  forth  to  his  memory:   "he 

BEING  DEAD  YET  SPEAKETH." 

The  late  historian,  Arthur  Latham  Perry,  in  the  chapter 
"Backward  and  Forward,"  in  Williamstown  and  Williams 
College,  said  that  "William  D wight  Whitney  and  John 
Bascom  were  the  most  scholarly  men  ever  graduated  at 
Williams  College."  Dr.  Whitney  became  editor-in-chief  of 
the  Century  Dictionary,  completed  in  1898.  Dr.  Bascom  was 
best  known  as  an  orator  and  philosopher,  and  published 
The  Words  of  Christ  in  1883,  Problems  in  Philosophy  in  1885, 
and  an  Historical  Interpretation  of  Philosophy  during  1893. 
The  latter,  Professor  Perry  considered  the  "most  important 
philosophical  speculation  from  Pythagoras  to  Lotze,"  and 
one  of  the  most  valuable  and  comprehensive  books  on 
philosophy  given  to  the  world. 

The  Greylock  Park  Association  was  incorporated  April 
15,  1885.     The  capital  was  $20,000,  held  in  shares  of  $25 

1  H.  F.  Cleland,  "Landslides  of  Mount  Greylock  and  Briggsville,  Mass.," 
Journal  GeoL,  x.,  pp.  513-517,  1902. 


Dr.  John  B  as  com,  Orator  and  Philosopher,  Williams  College,  Pioneer 

Promoter  and  Commissioner  of  Greylock  Park  Reservation. 

Died  October  2,  jqji. 


505 


506  The  Hoosac  Valley 

each.  The  Directors  and  Associate  Members  were  citizens 
of  Adams,  North  Adams,  and  Williamstown.  The  Asso- 
ciation purchased  400  acres  on  the  summit,  and  later  expen- 
ded $4,425  building  the  North  Adams  Road  from  Walden 
Farm  through  Wilbur  Park  to  the  summit,  a  log  cottage,  barn, 
and  the  present  iron  tower.  The  Association,  in  the  latter 
part  of  1900,  conveyed  Grey  lock  Park  property  to  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts  for  a  State  Park  Reservation, 
to  enclose  10,000  acres.  The  Legislature  has  appropriated 
in  all  $91,000  toward  purchasing  the  specified  land.  It  is 
now  reported  that  8243  acres  have  already  been  purchased, 
and  the  Reservation  extends  from  Raven  Rock  on  Ragged 
Mountain  in  the  Notch  westward  to  Mount  Bascom,  down 
to  the  base  of  the  Hopper,  and  south  from  Slope  Norton  of 
Prospect  Range  to  Jones's  Nose  and  Rounds's  Rocks. 

The  roads  of  Greylock  Park  are  nearly  complete.  A  con- 
tinuous highway  extends  from  North  Adams  through  the 
Notch  over  the  summit,  thence  to  Lanesboro  and  Pittsfield. 
The  bald  brow  of  the  Hoosac  Highlands  is  now  encircled 
with  a  pleasure  trail.  A  road  also  branches  off  from  the 
Rockwell  Road  and  meets  the  main  road  from  Pittsfield  to 
Williamstown  at  New  Ashford  Village.  Another  branch 
road  leads  down  to  the  Alpine  Club's  camp-ground  as  far 
as  the  Bluffs  on  Mount  Bascom  in  Bacon  Park.  A  road 
from  Adams  is  to  be  built  westward  over  the  summit  through 
the  Hopper,  and  thence  along  the  Green  River  Road  to 
Williamstown. 

To  the  traveller  standing  on  Simonds  Peak  in  Wilbur 
Park  or  on  Mount  Bascom  in  Bacon  Park,  visions  of  beauty 
burst  upon  the  eye  as  it  takes  in  the  devious  windings  of 
the  little  rivers  in  the  Valley  of  Mingling  Waters.  Distant 
murmurs  of  leaping,  laughing  waters,  falling  from  the  Sum- 
mit into  the  "Heart  of  Greylock"  and  Inner  Hopper, 
together  with  the  soft  whispering  tones  of  Wawbeek  and  Sky 


The  Arch  of  Truth,  Front  Gateway  leading  to  the  Knickerbacker  Mansion, 
Old  Schaghticoke,  New  York. 

The  Arch  was  erected  by  Joseph  Foster  Knickerbacker,  the  "  Poet  of  the 
Vale,"  to  commemorate  his  poem,  "The  Arch  of  Truth,"  in  1876.  The  view  is 
that  obtained  from  the  quaint,  divided  door  of  the  hall  of  entrance  to  the  "Ho- 
stead  "  of  Grandfather  Knickerbacker1  s  Manor.  Originally  a  Dove,  symbolic  of 
the  Wakon-bird — Holy  Spirit  Dove  of  the  Hoosacs — was  carved  on  the  crest  of 
the  Archway. 

"  The  Arch  of  Truth  represented  a  lofty  over-circled  gateway  or  entrance  to 
Courts  of  surpassing  glory  and  adornment,  and  was,  in  its  every  part,  a  holy  type 
of  the  portal  opening  to  the  abodes  of  Immortality." 

Joseph  Foster  Knickerbacker,  A  Vision:  The  Arch  of  Truth. 
$07 


508  The  Hoosac  Valley 

Falls  from  a  remote  dell  of  the  Hopper,  are  borne  to  the 
enchanted  ear  of  the  dreamer. 

Mount  Grey  lock  Park,  says  Dr.  Bascom,  becomes  "our 
daily  pleasure,  our  constant  symbol,  our  ever  renewed  in- 
spiration, a  gift  to  all  who  have  a  living  fellowship  with 
Nature."1 

Reformers,  hurrying  the  Millennium's  dawn 
Urging  to-morrow's  blossom  to  bloom  to-day, 
Here  gird  your  baffled,  warring  minds  anew.2 

1  Dr.  John  Bascom,  Greylock  Reservation,  1907. 

2  Author  unknown,  Greylock. 


THE  HOOSAC  VALLEY  OF  MINGLING  WATERS 

The  chill  and  startling  strokes  of  war  no  more 
Disturb  your  blended  streams  with  crimson  oar; 
And  naught  but  peace  and  softened  scars  remain 
To  mark  the  moss-grown  mounds  of  heroes  slain. 

The  years  of  gentle  time  have  willed  it  so, 
And  bade  your  mingling  waters  leap  and  flow 
From  out  the  "Heart  of  Greylock's"  brotherhood; 
To  bless  the  hallowed  "Vale  of  Peace"  where  stood 

The  warriors  reared  in  this  calm  solitude, 

Who  gave  their  lives  to  serve  a  nation's  good. 

Here,  let  these  rivulets  forever  flow; 

Drink  from  the  highland  domes  the  melting  snow; 

Drain  from  the  dark  ravines  and  hollows  near, 
The  mountain  cascades,  flowing  soft  and  clear; 
Lead  Sorrow's  children  upward  to  your  source; 
Unfold  the  joyous  secrets  of  your  course. 

The  highest  land  of  Hoosac's  noble  hills 
Shall  sweetly  ring  with  song  and  louder  trills ; 
And  many  a  spring  within  the  "Bellows'"  dumb, 
Shall  swell  and  flow  with  swift  yet  soothing  hum. 

Oft  gentle  Soquon,  of  Great  Soquis*  race, 
Sang  in  the  "Bellows'"  holy  hunting-place; 
Where  Onetho,1  the  phantom  chieftain,  hies, 
Wielding  the  lightning  weapons  of  the  skies. 

1  Bryant,  Legend  of  the  Delawares  and  Mohicans. 

509 


5io  The  Hoosac  Valley 

And  where  devious  Hoosac  rolls  his  floods, 
The  Homer  of  the  New  Arcadian  woods 
First  touched  Apollo's  true-toned  lyre, 
And  sang  of  Death  with  faith's  undying  fire. 

Here  Mother  Nature  taught  from  year  to  year, 
The  willing  heart  and  mind  of  many  a  seer ; 
Dear  storied  Tanglewood  of  Hawthorne's  day, 
And  Ethan  Brand  were  moulded  from  this  clay. 

And  Wisdom's  voicing  pen,  in  Thoreau's  hand, 
Has  made  us  love  these  hills  and  understand 
Their  value,  in  the  universe  of  things ; 
And  hold  them  in  our  minds  like  echoings. 

Here  'neath  New  Antioch's  glowing  arch  of  peace, 
Great  seers  have  striven  for  a  world's  release. 
"What  art  is  theirs,  the  written  spells  to  find 
That  sway  from  mood  to  mood  the  willing  mind!"1 

'T  is  here  the  poets  of  all  nations  bring 

The  autumn's  oaken-branch — the  bloom  of  spring; 

Calumet  and  Swastik — tributes  hung  in  air, 

Around  Mills's  "Haystack"  mission-shrine  of  prayer. 

Roll  on  fair  Hoosac  with  Orontean's  song; 
Flow  peacefully  through  all  the  centuries  long 
To  that  unbounded  shore — Eternity! 
That  God  decrees  alike  for  man  and  thee. 

Grace  Greylock  Niles. 

1  Bryant,  The  Poet. 


NOTES 


INDIAN    ORIGINS   OF   THE    HUDSON,   HOOSAC,    HOUSATONAC, 
AND  MOHAWK  VALLEYS 

ABENAKIS  DEMOCRACY1  IROQUOIS   CONFEDERACY 

(Wappanachki)  (Aquinoshioni-Koneoshioni) 

Men  of  the  East  Men  of  the  West 

Warriors  of  the  Rising  Sun  Warriors  of  the  Flint 

Eastlanders  Cabin-Makers 

LENAPE-WYANDOTTE   RACES 

(Unami  -  Antinathin) 

Turtle  Mother-tongue 

of 

Delaware-Huron  Mochomes 

(Abenakis-Iroquois  Grandfathers) 

(ALGONQUIN    RACE) 

The  Abenakis  Democracy1  and  the  Iroquois  Confederacy  originally  con- 
tained three  great  totemic  cantons  of  warriors,  subdivided  into  several  tribes. 
The  former  nation  included  the  Turtle  grandfathers  of  Great  Unami,  the 
Bears  of  Great  Soqui,  and  the  Wolves  of  Great  Minsi.  They  resided  in  the 
Delaware,  Hudson,  Champlain,  Connecticut,  and  St.  Lawrence  basins  of  New 
Netherland,  New  England,  and  New  France.  The  Iroquois  Nation  contained 
the  Turtle  grandfathers  of  Great  Antinathin,  the  Bears  of  Great  Maquaas, 
and  the  Wolves  of  Great  Enanthayonni.  They  occupied  the  Lake  Huron 
and  Mohawk-Hudson  basins  in  New  France  and  New  Netherland  west  of 
the  Hudson-Champlain  divide.  The  Iroquois  were  hereditary  enemies  of  the 
Abenakis  warriors  from  time  immemorial.  The  Abenakis  king  and  council- 
lors occupied  the  Hudson,  Hoosac,  and  Housatonac  valleys;  and  the  Iroquois 
king  and  councillors  occupied  the  Mohawk  and  Cohohahoohra  (West  Canada 
Creek)  valleys.  They  met  their  enemies  on  the  field  of  contest  in  the  Taconac 
and  Green  Mountains  and  laid  claim  to  the  neutral  hunting-grounds  of  Lake 
Champlain  region.  The  origin  of  Unami-Antinathin  musical  mother- tongue2 
is  still  unknown. 

1  Electa  F.  Jones,  Stockbridge  Past  and  Present,  pp.  18-20. 

2  The  Abenakis  and  Iroquois  names  of  places  contain  descriptive  phrases 
according  to  prefix  or  affix: 

511 


512 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


DELAWARE-MAHICAN    NAMES 


Ukhkopeck 


Mohegoneck 
Mahicansac 

Wappanachki 

Abenakis 

(Abnakes) 


Lenni-Lenapes 
Mochomes 
Minquas 
(Great  Unami) 


Traditional  country  of  the  Lenni- 
Lenape  Snake  and  Turtle  grand- 
fathers in  the  Orient. 

The  Delaware  and  Mahican  country 
in  the  Occident. 

The  "white  light  of  sunrise"  signify- 
ing: Eastlanders,  Men  of  the  East, 
Warriors  of  the  Rising  Sun,  Occiden- 
tals. 

The  "original  and  unmixed  people" 
of  Great  Unami  or  Turtle  Race. 
They  were  recognized  as  Mochomes 
(grandfathers)  of  the  Abenakis  De- 


Ac,  ack,  ic,  ick,  uc,  uck,  oc,  ock,  ing, 
ah,  ea,  eck,  wa,  wagh,  wog,  ra,  etc. 
(Hoo-sac,  Housatonac,  Mayoonsac, 
Taconac,  etc.) 

Wa,  wauw,  wagh  (Wanalancet,  Wi- 
gow-wauw,  great  sachem;  Asha- 
wagh,  land  between  Wi-gow-wauws) 

Ho,  hoo,  hooh,  hous,  uk-hooh,  co- 
hooh  (Hoo-sac,  Hoosatonac,  Housa- 
tonac) 

Co,  ti,  ca,  ko,  ga,  go  (Coos,  Cohoes, 
and  Ticonderoga) 

Os,  oes 

Wi,  we 

(Coos,  Cooesac,  Cohoes,  Hooes,  Hooe- 

sac) 

(Cohoesac,  Cohohatatea) 

On 

Tar 

Asto 

Atea 

Cohoha,  Cahoh,  Gahoh 


Affixes  signifying  place  or  location. 
The  affix  ac  has  been  uniformly 
adopted  by  the  author  for  Hoosac 
and  Housatonac  names. 

Affixes  or  prefixes  signifying  sachem 
or  chieftain,  and  their  land. 


Prefixes    signifying    owl    or   orator's 
land  or  rivers. 


Prefixes  denoting  cascade  or  water- 
falls. 

Small  or  little. 

Great  or  broad. 

Cohoes  Falls,  Hooesac  Falls. 

(Little  Falls). 

Hudson  Valley  beyond  Cohoes  Falls. 

Hill. 

Rocky. 

Narrow  pass  or  ravine. 

Landscape  or  valley. 

Cradle-hollows  or  pot-holes  (Leaping 

waters). 


Notes 


5i3 


(Great  Soqui) 
(Great  Minsi) 


Algonquin  Race 


Waum-theet 

Mon-nit-toow 

Manitou 

Manetho 

Onetho 

Mton-toow 

Hobbamocko 

Bachtamo 

Ken-ti-kaw x 
Kinte-Kaye2 


Wi-gow-wauw 
(Great  Sachem) 


Sachem 

Sakemo 

Sake-ma 

Sagamore 

(Chieftain) 

We-ko-wohm 

(Castle) 


mocracy.  They  resided  about  Dela- 
ware Bay  and  their  grandsons  of  Great 
Soqui  and  Great  Minsi,  known  as 
Noochwissacs  (grandchildren),  occu- 
pied the  Hudson  and  Connecticut 
valleys  in  the  mountains. 

A  French  Jesuit  term,  signifying, 
"musical  mother- tongue "  of  the 
Lenni-Lenapes  and  their  grandsons 
of  the  Abenakis  Democracy. 

Great  Spirit,  God  of  the  Heavens, 
Promoter  of  peace  and  welfare  from 
the  Country  of  Souls  beyond  the  Sea. 


A  fabled  tortoise,  the  evil  spirit, 
devil,  or  fiend  of  calamity,  wor- 
shipped as  the  god  of  thunder. 

War-dance,  known  as  devil-dance, 
observed  before  advancing  against 
an  enemy.  First  observed  by  the 
Christians  at  "Dans  Kammer"2 
(dance-chamber)  at  Newburgh  Point 
on  the  Hudson. 

King  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy. 
After  the  death  of  the  Great  Sachem, 
one  of  his  nephews  (if  he  have  any 
on  his  sister's  side)  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him  instead  of  his  own  sons 
or  brother's  sons. 

The  sachem,  chieftain,  and  petty- 
sagamore  were  subject  to  the  Great 
Sachem  in  all  national  questions  of 
war  or  peace. 

The  Wigwam,  or  castle  of  the  Great 
Sachem,  was  built  by  the  Abenakis 
Nation    at    Chescodonta    Hill    and 


1  Electa  F.  Jones,  Stockbridge  Past  and  Present. 

2  Ruttenber's  Indian  Tribes  of  Hudson  River,  p.  28. 


5*4 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Passaconaway 
Uncus 
Aepjen 
(Great  Soqui) 


Woh-weet-quan-pe-chee 
(Councillors) 


Schodac,  the  site  of  Albany  and 
Castleton  on  the  Hudson,  and  later 
at  Skatecook-site  of  Sheffield  on  the 
Housatonac. 

Great  Sachems  of  Abenakis  Democ- 
racy. The  Bear  canton  of  Great 
Soqui  was  considered  highest  ;n 
dignity,  and  the  king  and  his  cabinet 
of  councillors  were  chosen  from  the 
royal  families  of  this  race.  The 
Great  Sachem  received  no  stated 
salary,  although  the  warriors  of  the 
Pemocracy  rendered  tribute  or  taxes 
annually  at  the  Festival  of  the  Har- 
vest Moon  of  Autumn  and  the  Festi- 
val of  the  New  Moon  of  Spring.  He 
was  supplied  with  a  long  We-ko- 
wohm,  castle  large  enough  to  enter- 
tain the  nation's  councillors  and  wise 
men  and  priests  from  afar.  Muk-sens 
(moccasins),  skins,  blankets,  baskets, 
bags,  and  piles  of  corn  and  beans 
were  rendered  as  the  nation's  tribute. 
The  ancient  medicine-bag,  containing 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  Calumet,  wam- 
pum belts,  remained  at  the  Great 
Sachem's  castle.  It  descended  with 
his  office  to  his  successor.  After  the 
death  of  a  Great  Sachem,  the  nation 
considered  "their  light  put  out, "  and 
mourned  under  dark  clouds  until 
another  king  was  appointed  by  the 
vote  of  the  warriors  and  councillors 
of  the  Democracy.  He  must  be 
peaceable  and  exhort  his  people  to  live 
in  unity.  He  could  be  removed,  if 
he  failed  to  behave  agreeable  to  his 
oath  of  office  to  his  people.  King  Un- 
cus and  Passaconaway  were  evidently 
dethroned  and  banished  and  suc- 
ceeded by  King  Aepjen. 

The  cabinet  of  the  Great  Sachem. 


Notes 


5i5 


Un-nuh  -kan-kun 
(Runner) 
(Great  Soqui) 


Secretary  and  messenger  of  the  Great 
Sachem.  He  resided  at  the  national 
castle  of  the  nation,  and  guarded  the 
Mno-ti  (bag  of  peace),  containing 
wampum-belts,  the  Calumets,  and 
other  symbols  of  friendship.  He  was 
required  to  light  the  Calumet  for  the 
Great  Sachem  and  deliver  all  mes- 
sages of  peace.  He  must  above  all 
be  honest  and  trustworthy,  or  his 
feathers  could  be  removed  and 
another  appointed  to  the  office. 


Soquon 

Uk-hooh-que-thoth 
(Owl-sachem) 
(Great  Soqui) 


Owl  or  Orator  of  the  Abenakis  De- 
mocracy. The  office  was  won  by  wis- 
dom and  merit  and  required  a  good 
memory,  for  the  orator  recorded 
the  nation's  historic  traditions.  He 
resided  in  the  Uk-hooh-sac,  or  Hoo- 
sac  Valley. 


Soquis 
Sequin 


War-whoop  of  the  Hoosac  Bears  of 
Great  Soqui. 


Maquon 
Maquon-pauw 
(Hero-sachem) 
(Great  Minsi) 


Hero  or  Emperor's  office  of  the  De- 
mocracy was  won  only  through 
merit  and  bravery.  The  Hero  sat 
with  the  Great  Sachem  and  his  coun- 
cillors at  all  national  councils  held  at 
Schodac  Castle.  His  vote  served  to 
confirm  their  agreements.  He  was 
beloved  by  the  warriors  of  the  nation. 
In  warfare  the  Hero  became  their 
brave  and  prudent  leader.  Great 
Minsi,  or  Wolf  canton,  next  to  Great 
Soqui  or  Bear  canton,  comprised  the 
bravest  warriors  of  the  nation.  Ma- 
quon's  Mahicansacs  occupied  Mcene- 
mine's  Castle  below  Cohoes  Falls 
of  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  Soquon 's 
Soquonsacs  or  Hoosacs  occupied 
Unuwat's  Castle,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Hudson.  They  guarded  the  war- 
trails  leading  from  the  Iroquois  Con- 


5i6 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


federacy    to    the    Abenakis    king's 
Schodac  Castle. 


Mahican 


The  war-whoop  of  Maquon's  war- 
riors of  Great  Minsi,  or  Wolf  Race, 
who  bore  the  totem  of  a  super- 
natural wolf,  from  which  arose  their 
canton's  designation.  At  first  they 
resided  on  the  West  bank  of  the 
Hudson,  south  of  the  Mohawk 
castles. 


Mahingan 


French-Algonquin    name    for    Loup 
(wolf  or  dog). 


Myegan 


Schaghticoke  and  St.  Francis  war- 
riors' name  for  wolf  in  Nebraska  and 
Dakota. 


Maihtshow 


Stockbridge's  name  for  wolf  in  Wis- 
consin. 


Delawares 
Mohegans 
Algonquins 


Present  names  of  mixed  Turtle,  Wolf, 
and  Bear  warriors  of  New  York,  New 
England,  and  New  France. 


Loups 
(Dogs) 


The  French  Jesuits  called  all  the 
Abenakis  warriors  of  New  York  and 
New  England  Loups,  or  dogs,  now 
called  Mohegans. 


ANCIENT  NAMES  OF  HUDSON  VALLEY 


Mohegoneck 

Mahicansac 

Muhhekaneck 

Muhheakunnuck 

Mohegansac 


The  "ebbing  and  flowing  river"  of 
the  Lenni-Lenapes. 


Mahicantuck 


The  Minquas'  and  Minces'  name  for 
the  Heroes'  or  Mahicansacs'  Valley. 


Mahikander 


The  Hoosacs'  or  Soquonsacs'  name 
for  Aep jen's  Schodac  River. 


Notes 


5i7 


Cohohatatea 


The  Iroquois  name  for  the  Mahican- 
sacs'  River,  according  to  John 
Bleecker's  translation  in  181 1,  re- 
ported to  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell. 
The  name  refers  to  the  Hudson  Val- 
ley, lying  beyond  the  Cohoes  Falls 
of  the  Mohawk's  Valley  of  Leaping, 
Laughing  Waters. 


Shatemuck 


The  Mahicansac  was  known  as 
Shaita-Pelican  or  Sea-gull  River, 
according  to  Sachem  Odjibioa. 


Skeetecook 
(Stillwaters) 


The  Hudson  was  known  as  the  River 
of  Still- Waters,  near  the  site  of 
Skeetecook  Village,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Hoosac  with  the  Hudson,  oppo- 
site Stillwater  Village. 


Grande  Rio  De  Montagne 
(Grand  River) 


Grand  River  of  the  Mountains, 
according  to  Verrazzano's  map,  pre- 
pared by  King  Francis  II.  of  France 
in  1524.  Jean  Allefonsce's  traders 
from  St.  Ange,  France,  in  1 540-1 542, 
and  Henry  Hudson  and  his  English 
and  Dutch  crew  of  the  Half  Moon  in 
1 609-1 6 10,  refer  to  the  Mahicansac 
as  the  Grande  River  of  the  Moun- 
tains. 


Mariritius 
(Orange  River) 


The  Grande  River  was  rechristened 
Mariritius  River  by  the  Dutch  Boers 
and  French  Walloons  between  1614- 
1624,  in  honor  of  Prince  Maurice  of 
Nassau  and  Orange. 


Hudson  River 


After  the  English  conquest  of  New 
Netherland,  the  Orange  River  was 
rechristened  Hudson's  River  in  honor 
of  the  first  English  navigator,  Henry 
Hudson,  who  with  the  Hollanders 
explored  the  stream  in  1609. 


North  River 


The    Hudson    River    in    1664    was 


5i8 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


known  as  North  River  in  order  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  Delaware 
River,  known  as  South  River,  and 
from  the  Varsch  or  Connecticut, 
known  as  East  River. 


ANCIENT  NAMES  OF  HOOSAC  VALLEY 


Soquonsac 


Valley  of  the  Owl-Sachem  Soquon  of 
Great  Soqui  Race. 


Pauw-Hooh-sac 

Pan-Hoo-sac 

Hoosac 


Uk-hooh-pauw's — the  Owl's  or  Ora- 
tor's hunting-grounds  beyond  the 
Co-ho-ha-ta-tea,  or  Hudson  Valley 
east  of  Cohoes  Falls  of  the  Mohawk 
River. 


Skatecook 

Schaghticoke 

(Valley  of  Mingling  Waters) 

(Hoosac-Housatonac) 


A  term  signifying  "mingling  waters" 
or  the  confluence  of  streams.  After 
the  removal  of  the  Abenakis  De- 
mocracy's Council-Fire  from  Scho- 
dac  on  the  Hudson  to  the  Housatonac 
Valley  in  1664,  the  new  national 
name  of  Skatecook  was  adopted  for 
the  Capital  and  the  warriors  were 
known  as  Schaghticokes. 


Ash-a-wagh 
Nash-a-wog 


Terms  signifying  the  land  between 
the  sources  of  two  rivers  and  two 
Wauws  or  sachems. 


Nich-a-wagh 
Etch-o-wog 


Lake  Ashawagh  and  boglands,  be- 
tween the  sources  of  Hoosac  and 
Walloomsac  rivers,  at  the  base  of 
the  Dome  in  Pownal,  Vermont. 


Nack-te-nack 
Nach-a-quick-quaak 


Islands  between  the  junction  or  at 
the  confluence  of  two  rivers. 


Ashuwillticook 
Ahashewaghkick 
(Ashawaghsac) l 


South  Branch  of  the  Hoosac,  rising 
in  the  Ashawagh  hills  between  the 
headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and  Housa- 
tonac rivers. 


The  latter  name  has  been  retained  since  it  is  easily  pronounced. 


Notes 


5i9 


Mayunsook 

Mayunsac 

(Mayoonsac) 


North  Branch  of  the  Hoosac,  rising 
on  Ashawaghsac  Mountain  in  Ver- 
mont, between  the  headwaters  of 
the  Hoosac  and  Deerfield  rivers. 


Wampanicksepoot 
Wampansac 
(Green  River) 


A  south  branch  of  Hoosac  River, 
rising  in  the  Ashawagh  hills  be- 
tween the  Hoosac  and  Housatonac 
headwaters. 


Wicomsac 
Broadsac 
(Broad  Brook) 


A  north  branch  of  the  Hoosac,  rising 
in  the  Dome  and  Mount  Hazen  of 
Green  Mountains  in  Vermont. 


Hooesac 
(Little  Hoosac) 


A  south  branch  of  the  Hoosac,  rising 
in  the  Ashawagh  hills  between  the 
Hoosac  and  Kinderhook  headwaters 
in  Berlin,  New  York. 


Wa-nepimo-seek 
Nepimo 
Nepimoresac 
Nipmuth  Creek 
(Shingle  Hollow  Brook) 


A  west  branch  of  the  Hoosac  River, 
rising  on  Rensselaer  Plateau  between 
the  headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and 
Tomhannac  rivers,  in  Hoosac,  New 
York.  Residence  of  the  sachem,  or 
sakemo,  of  the  Mahicans. 


Swastikasac 
St.  Croix-sac 
Walloon  Creek 
(Walloomsac) x 


The  east  branch  of  Hoosac  River, 
known  as  St.  Croix,  was  first  settled 
by  French  Walloons,  from  which 
arose  the  name  Walloomsac.  It  rises 
in  the  Dome  and  Lake  Ashawagh,  of 
Pownal,  and  in  Woodford,  Vt. 


Uk-Hoohsac 
Owlsac 
(Owl  Kill) 


A  north  branch  of  the  Hoosac,  rising 
in  the  Ashawagh  hills  between  the 
headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and  Batten 
Kill  Rivers  in  New  York.  The  Owl's 
sacrificial  altar  to  Great  Manitou  and 
Hobbamocko  was  located  below  the 
junction  of  the  Owl  Kill  with  the 
Hoosac  River. 


Toh-kone-ac 


A  south  branch  of  the  Hoosac,  ris- 


xThe  name  is  a  corruption  of  Walloonsac. 


520 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Taconac 
Tomhannock 
(Tomhannac  Creek) 


Dwaasac 
(Dwaas  Kill) 


ing  in  the  Hoosac  Lake  District  on 
Rensselaer  Plateau  between  the 
headwaters  of  the  Hoosac  and  Kin- 
derhook  rivers  in  Grafton,  New  York. 

A  west  branch  of  the  Hoosac, 
near  its  junction  with  the  Hudson. 
The  Dutch  name  signifies  "flowing 
both  ways."  "Kill"  is  a  corruption 
of  "kerk"  and  refers  to  St.  Anthony's 
mission  chapel,  built  near  St.  An- 
thony Kill,  south  of  the  Dwaas  Kill. 


ANCIENT  NAMES  OF  HOUSATONAC  VALLEY 


Ausotunnoog 
Ousetonuck 
Housatunnuk 
(Housatonac) 


The  Housatonac  River  has  many 
spellings,  corrupted  by  the  English, 
Dutch,  and  Moravian  missionaries. 
It  is  a  name  descriptive  of  the  Abena- 
kis  Democracy's  national  council-fire- 
place at  Skatecook  (Sheffield)  which 
lies  east,  beyond  Schodac  and  Co- 
hoes  castles  of  the  Hudson.  It  also 
refers  to  the  over-mountain  Valley 
of  Mingling  Waters  beyond  the  Owl's 
Hoosac  Valley,  and  should  be  spelled 
Hoosatonac  instead  of  Housatonac. 


Toh-kone-ac 

Tar-co-on-ac 

Tagh-kan-ac 

K '  ta-kanatatshan 

(Taconac) 


The  name  for  Taconac  Mountains 
arose  from  the  term  Tohkoneac,  first 
used  to  designate  a  large  spring  with 
a  rocky  bottom  near  Copake  Lake  on 
Livingston's  "Taghkanic  Tract," 
west  of  the  main  Taconac  Range. 
The  Moravian  missionaries  corrupted 
the  name  later  and  designated  the 
Dome — the  great  woodsy  mountain 
east  of  Shekomeko,  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y. — K'takanatatshan,  signifying 
"great,  woodsy  rocky  mountain." 
The  name  Taconac  is  now  applied 
to  the  entire  range  from  Dutchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  north  to  Addison 
County,  Vt. 


Notes 


521 


Skatecook 

Schaghticoke 

(Sheffield) 


A  term  signifying  the  confluence  of 
two  streams,  from  which  arose  "Val- 
ley of  Mingling  Waters,"  applied  to 
both  the  Hoosac  and  Housatonac 
valleys.  King  Aepjen  adopted  the 
name  Skatecook  in  1664  for  the  site 
of  his  national  council-fire  about  the 
junction  of  Wampanicksepoot,  Green 
River,  with  the  Housatonac  River, 
now  the  site  of  Sheffield,  Mass. 


Wnogh-que-too-koke 
Wnahktukook 
Westenhuck 
(Stockbridge) 


Aepjen-a-hican 


Nana-apenahican  Creek 


The  Moravian  missionaries  under 
Count  Zinzendorf  corrupted  the 
names,  Wi-gow-wauw  (Great  Sa- 
chem) and  Skatecook  to  Westenhuck. 
The  English  in  1 739  incorporated  the 
town  Stockbridge,  and  the  Schaghti- 
cokes  of  the  Housatonac  became 
known  as  Stockbridges. 

King  of  the  Abenakis  Democracy. 
He  located  in  Housatonac  Valley  in 
1 664  and  was  discovered  by  the  Eng- 
lish missionaries,  Jonathan  Sergeant 
and  Samuel  Hopkins,  in  1734. 

A  small  stream  rising  about  "Monu- 
ment Mountain. "  King  Aepjen's 
national  Wekowohm  (wigwam  or 
castle)  was  built  on  this  stream.  The 
prefix.  Nana,  is  the  plural  for  bears 
and  wolves,  Aepjen  (bear)  and 
Hican  (wolf)  denoting  that  the 
Mahican  warriors  of  the  west  bank 
of  the  Hudson  joined  Aepjen's 
bears  on  the  east  bank. 


Wampanicksepoot 
(Green  River) 


The  place  of  wampum  or  small  bugle- 
shells,  used  as  the  Abenakis  Democ- 
racy's money  or  as  coins  interwoven 
in  peace  belts. 


Mah-kee-nac 
(Stockbridge  Bowl) 


A  small  lake  christened  by  Catherine 
Sedgwick,  as  the  "Bowl." 


522 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Wawanaquassick 
Wachankasigh 
Mauswaseekhi 
(Monument  Mountain) 


The  "Hill  of  the  Great  Stone- 
heaps,"  known  as  "  Fisher's-Nest " 
and  commemorated  in  Bryant's  poem, 
Monument  Mountain. 


Deowkook 
(Rattlesnake  Mountain) 


Wolves'  Hill,  occupied  by  the  Mahi- 
can  or  wolf  warriors. 


Skoon-keek-moon-keek 
(Lake  Pontoosac) 


King  Aepjen's  hunting-ground  for 
winter  deer,  now  Pittsfield  neighbor- 
hood. 


Lake  Pontoosac 
Lake  Onota 


The     "winter    hunting-ground     for 
deer, "  in  Pittsfield. 


Tawasentha 
(Burial-field) 


The  Abenakis  king's  Tawasentha 
(Vale  of  the  many  dead)  was  located 
in  both  the  Hoosac  and  Housatonac 
valleys.  About  Hobbamocko's  or 
Devil's  Chimney  on  the  Hoosac  and 
about  Indian  Hill  near  Lake  Onota 
many  "weapons  of  rest"  and  mould, 
ering  bones  have  been  unearthed. 


Kokapot 


Successor  of  King  Aepjen  (?) .  He  was 
of  the  lineage  of  Ukhkopeck-Snake 
and  Turtle  grandfathers  of  Great 
Unami. 


Yokum 
(Soquon)  ? 

Umpachene 


The  Uk-hooh  (?)  (Owl,  or  Orator,  of 
Great  Soqui). 

The  Maquon-pauw,  or  Hero,  of  the 
Abenakis  Nation,  successor  of  Ma- 
quon  of  the  Hudson  and  Hoosac 
valleys. 


Occum 
(Uncum) 


The  Unnuhkankun,  or  Runner  (?),  a 
messenger. 


ANCIENT  NAMES  OF  THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY 


Hodesanne 


Traditional    native    country    of    the 
Iroquois  Confederacy. 


Notes 


523 


Kayingehaga 


The  Valley  of  Leaping,  Laughing 
Waters,  between  Cohoes  Falls  on  the 
Mohawk  and  Niagara  Falls,  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  River. 


Aquinoshioni 
Koneoshioni 
Angiehorons 
(Iroquois) 


The  name  of  the  Iroquois  Confeder- 
acy arose  from  a  French  Jesuit  term 
adopted  to  distinguish  the  Warriors 
of  Flint,  whose  Owl  began  his  palaver 
with  Hiro — I  say  or  have  said, — com- 
bined with  the  affix,  Kone,  expressing 
joy  or  sorrow,  indicated  respectively 
by  the  long  and  by  the  short  accent. 


Wyandottes 
(Mochomes) 
(Great  Antinathin) 
(Great  Maquaas) 
(Great  Enanthayonni) 


Angiehorons 
Angiers 
Mohaquas 
(Great  Maquaas) 


The  "original  and  unmixed  people" 
of  Great  Antinathin  or  Turtle 
fathers.  They  resided  about  Lakes 
Huron  and  Erie  and  became  the 
grandfathers  of  the  Noochwissacs — 
grandchildren  of  Great  Maquaas  and 
Great  Enanthayonni  or  Bear  and 
Wolf  warriors,  occupying  the  Mo- 
hawk and  Hudson  basin. 

The  French  and  Algonquin  designa- 
tion for  the  Warriors  of  the  Flint, 
occupying  the  Mohawk  Valley  above 
Cohoes  Falls. 


Maquaas 

Mohogs 

Mohawks 

Cahohaisenhonone 
(Great  Maquaas) 
(Great  Enanthayonni) 


The  Dutch  and  English  designations 
for  the  Bear  and  Wolf  warriors  of  the 
Iroquois  Confederacy. 

Agonerrhorons  and  Cahohaisenhonons 
— the  Bear  and  Wolf  warriors  of  the 
Flint.  The  Iroquois  king  and  his 
councillors  resided  between  Cohoes 
Falls  and  Cohohahoohra  Falls,  now 
known  as  Trenton  Falls  on  West 
Canada  Creek,  a  north  branch  of  the 
Mohawk  River.  The  Gahahoohpauw, 
or  Owl,  of  the  Confederacy  occupied 
the  Cohohahoohra  hunting-grounds 
between  East  and  West  Canada 
Creek,  known  as  the  Royal  Grant. 


5^4 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Ganeagaono 
Gahahoose  or  Cohohaose 

Agoncrrhorons 

Gahahoose 

Skohare 


Canassatiego 


The  Maquaas'  hunting-ground  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley  above  Cohoes  Falls. 

Names  of  the  villages  and  castles  of 
the  Iroquois  king  and  councillors  of 
the  Bear  and  Wolf  races,  about 
Schonowe  Meadows,  known  to  the 
Dutch  as  Great  Flats,  on  the  site  of 
Schenectady. 

The  Gahahooh-pauw  (Owl  or  Orator) 
of  Great  Maquaas. 


Canassishoro 
Canastagiowna 


Co-ho-hah  or  Cahoh 
Gahohahoose 
(Cohoes  Falls) 


The  valley  of  the  Gahahooh,  or  Owl. 

The  great  maize-fields  of  the  Gaha- 
hooh-pauw, or  Owl. 

Cradle-hollows,  pot-holes,  or  rocking, 
leaping,  laughing  motion  of  a  canoe 
leaping  the  Cohoes  Cataract  with  a 
warrior  and  his  squaw.  The  legend 
led  to  the  name  Cohoes  Falls,  sig- 
nifying "ship-wrecked  canoe, "  of  the 
Mohawk  Falls. 


Great  Antinathin 
(Huron  Mochomes) 


Tharony-  jargon 
(Hiawatha) 


Legend  of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy 
(Huron-Mohawks) 


The  Master  of  Life,— God  of  Thun- 
der. Fabled  Wyandotte  Turtle 
grandfathers. 

The  Holder  of  the  Heavens,  control- 
ling the  lightning  weapons  of  the  sky, 
and  the  Moodus,  or  jargon,  upheavals 
during  earthquakes,  and  the  thunder 
during  hurricanes. 

The  Iroquois  myth  claimed  that  their 
fabled  Turtle  grandfathers  of  Great 
Antinathin,  like  the  giants  of  Roman 
mythology,  were  confined  beneath  the 
mountains — the  Laurentian  High- 
lands, near  the  site  of  Niagara  Falls 
and  Oswego  Falls,  until  St.  Hiawatha 
released  the  old  Huron  Wyandotte 


Notes  525 

and  Erie  Turtles.  A  jargon  upheaval 
followed  and  the  ancient  Cambrian 
Sea  receded  south  and  west.  Hia- 
watha x  then  bade  the  Six  Nations  of 
the  Confederacy  march  down  the 
Valley  of  Leaping,  Laughing  Waters 
until  they  met  their  enemies — the 
Wappanachki  Men  of  Great  Unami 
— at  Chescodonta,  the  site  of  Albany 
Capitol  on  the  Mahicansac  River, 
now  known  as  Hudson  River.  Here 
the  Hoosac  Bears  of  the  Abenakis 
Democracy  and  the  Mohawk  Bears 
of  the  Iroquois  Confederacy  fought 
for  their  right  to  hang  their  kettles 
and  kindle  their  national  council-fires 
until  dispersed  by  the  invading 
Christian  armies  between  161 5  and 
1815. 

II 

[Pages  121,  130] 

LIEUT.  JOHN  CATLIN'S  LETTERS  ABOUT  FORT  MASSACHUSETTS 

SUPPLIES2 

Fort  Massachusetts. 
Augt  ye  3,  1745. 

Hond  Sir  These  are  to  informe  that  I  have  perseuant  to  your  desire  ben 
Down  to  ye  Duch  and  in  the  first  place  made  up  a  Counts  with  Mr  Vanasee  & 
find  deu  to  him  2-4-6  in  there  money  he  hath  disposed  of  but  tow  hids  and  the 
tallow  Sir  I  pos  to  informe  you  the  Surcomstances  we  are  in  I  carried  With  me 
258  lb  Weight  of  Pork  and  found  ye  Stores  thirtee  pounds  of  Beef  and  Brad  to 
last  to  ye  22  of  July  I  found  three  Skipel  of  flour  in  the  Stores  and  sence  found 
Whare  Bardwell  had  brought  20  Skipel  more  we  have  fetched  up  17  all  Ready 
Sir  I  find  that  the  Rum  hath  ben  very  Slipry  trade  but  how  much  hath  ben 
Sold  to  perticulr  men  I  Cant  yet  tel.  Sir  the  ox  we  kild  on  ye  29  July  the 
Weight  475  lb  the  quantity  of  Pork  that  Bardwell  Spake  of  I  have  ben  to  see 


1  Longfellow's  Hiawatha  of  the  Iro-      (Holder     of     the     Heavens — Huron 
quo'is,  similar  to  Bryant's  Onetho  in      Turtles.) 

his    Legends    of   the   Delawares    and      (Master   of   the   lightning-arrows  of 
Mohicans.  the  sky  of  Delaware  Turtles.) 

3  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  109,  no,  113. 


526  The  Hoosac  Valley 

and  find  that  thare  is  about  400  lb  weight  Which  is  the  Whol  I  can  Sight  of  att 
preasant  the  price  three  pence  half  peny  per  pound  Mr  Vanness  will  let  me 
have  800  lb  Weight  in  December  att  the  same  price  further  I  have  tried  the 
best  of  my  skill  to  git  Wheat  and  shall  now  Let  you  know  how  I  can  have  it  Mr 
Vanness  demands  29  per  Skipel  he  giting  it  ground  &  delivering  it  att  his  house 
the  pay  may  be  made  to  his  Son  att  New  York  in  Rum  or  any  other  att  the 
markit  price,  further  Mr  Hawks  att  the  firt  house  will  Let  me  have  one  100 
lb  skipel  of  old  Wheat  att  2  s  6  d  per  skipel  and  Will  git  it  ground  and  brought 
to  his  house  a  mile  nier  to  us  his  pay  must  be  in  mony  Saveing  2  pare  of  stock- 
ings and  2  pare  of  Shoes:  Sir  I  now  Wait  for  your  orders  which  to  take  the 
last  Whet  mentioned  is  Chepist  but  thare  is  no  man  that  Can  Supply  in  all  we 
want  like  Vanness;  Sir  the  price  of  Rum  I  Cant  yet  know  but  in  a  fornits  time 
Vanase  Son  will  be  up  from  New  York  and  he  will  then  let  me  know,  the 
Want  of  money  oblidges  me  to  stand  with  my  finger  in  my  mouth  ware  the 
money  here  things  might  be  had  much  chepier  Plese  to  send  Bardwell  as  soun 
as  possiable  for  the  Care  of  the  work  att  the  fort  and  giting  the  provisions  I 
find  is  hard  Sir  there  id  difficulty  Respecting  ye  Wheat  that  Bardwell  Bought 
forsbury  sayeth  that  he  was  to  take  the  wheat  before  it  was  ground  and  Charges 
3  pence  per  Bushil  for  giting  it  ground  &  brought  to  his  house  Salt  cant  be  had 
on  this  side  of  Albany  and  brought  one  horse  Sir  we  are  in  healt  &  yours  att 
command 

John  Catlin  2nd. 


Fort  Massachusetts. 
Augt  ye  5.  1745. 

Sir  Since  I  wrote  the  account  of  my  procedings  consarning  the  wheat  Mr. 
Vanness  has  been  with  me,  and  tels  me  that  if  you  will  take  all  the  wheat  you 
want  of  him  that  he  will  take  our  money  and  the  same  price  as  mentioned 
before.  Sir,  I  have  this  day  a  large  family  from  the  Duch,  and  one  man  offers 
me  whete  for  2 :5  per  skipel  ither  one  or  200  skipel  to  be  delivered  in  flower  at 
the  first  house  (undoubtedly  Van  Derrick's  house  a  mile  south  of  Peters- 
burgh  Junction).  Another  of  them  will  let  me  enough  to  pay  for  a  sute 
of  broad  cloth  for  2:6  per  skipel  to  be  delivered  at  the  same  house  in 
flower. 

As  good  care  of  the  beare  hath  been  taken  as  if  your  honour  were  here,  bot 
for  the  want  of  salt  I  feare  some  of  it  will  spile.  One  skipel  of  salt  is  the  howle 
we  can  git  till  we  go  to  Albany  for  it. 

We  are  informed  by  an  Indian  from  Crown  Point  that  one  of  the  sculks  that 
kiled  Phips  at  the  greate  meadow  received  his  death  wound  and  died  att 
Crown  Point.  We  are  all  well  and  in  good  spirits,  and  make  tho  we  scout 
every  day  no  discovery  att  present. 

Sir,  I  am  yours  to  serve 

John  Catlin  2D. 


Notes 


527 


III 

[Page  130] 

FIRST  MUSTER-ROLL  OF  FORT  MASSACHUSETTS1 

A  Muster  Roll  of  the  Company  in  His  Majesty's  Service  under  the 
Command  of  Ephraim  Williams,  Jun'r,  Captain,  Viz.,  December  10, 
1745,  to  June  9,  1746 


Jonathan  Bridgman 
Moses  Scott 
John  Perry 
Eben'r  Dickinson 
John  Danelson 
Elijah  Graves 
Samuel  Goodman 
Joseph  Kellogg 
Aaron  Kidder 
Zebulon  Allin 
Nath'l  Ranger 
Jonathan  Stone 
John  Guiford 
Stephen  Stow 
Daniel  Smead 
Samuel  Taylor 
David  Warner 
Luke  Smith 
Elear  Hawks,  Jun'r 
Gad  Corse 
Nathaniel  Brooks 
Connewoon  Hoondeloo 
Eben'r  Miller,  Jun'r 
Gershorm  Hawks 
John  Mighills 
Moses  Adams 
Joseph  Petty 
Patrick  Ray 
Amos  Stiles 
Barnard  Wilds 
Jedidiah  Winehall 
Aaron  Ferry 
Parker  Pease 
Thomas  Miller 


Cent'l 


Dec'r  10 


June    9 


Feb.  28 


June    9 


tt 

Feb.   27 

tt 

June    9 

it 

«< 

u 

« 

tt 

Feb.  11 

tt 

Feb.  24 

It 

Feb.  20 

Feb.   21 

June    9 

Dec.   10 

Feb.  24 

April  15 

June    9 

Dec.   10 

Feb.  24 
tt 

Feb.  20 

June    9 

Dec.   10 

N 

tt 

" 

it 

Feb.  15 

tt 

June    9 

«« 

tt 

a 

« 

a 

Feb.  15 

tt 

" 

a 

Feb.  26 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williams  town,  p.  117. 


528 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Abner  Aldrich 
Ezekiel  Foster 
John  Cochran 
Thomas  Foot 
John  Newton 
Richard  Wallis 
John  Conally 
Samuel  John 


Cent'l 


Dec.  10 


Mar 
Dec 


3i 
10 


June    7 

June    9 
<« 

Jan.  30 
Mar.  30 
June  9 
Feb.  27 
June    9. 


IV 

[Page  144] 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COMPANY  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE 
UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  SERGT.  JOHN  HAWKS,  WHO 
WERE  TAKEN  WITH  HIM  AT  FORT  MASSACHUSETTS, 
AUG.  20,  17461 


Rank 


John  Hawks 
John  Norton 
Stephen  Scott 
David  Warren 
John  Smead  Sen. 
John  Smead  Jun. 
Daniel  Smead 
John  Perry- 
Moses  Scott 
Joseph  Scott 
Nathaniel  Ames 
Josiah  Read 
Samuel  Lovatt 
Samuel  Goodman 
Amos  Pratt 
Nathaniel  Hitchcock 
Jacob  Sheppard 
Phineas  Forbush 
Jonathan  Bridgman 
John  Aldrich 

Pd.  by  the 

Treasurer 
Benjamin  Simonds 

Pd. 


Sergt. 

Chaplain 

Soldier 


Residence 

Deerfield 
Line  of  Forts 
Sunderland 


Deceased 


Pequog 


Fall  Town 


Deceased 


Weeks     p 
Returned  and     vT.. 

Days  Month 

Aug.  23, 1747   52  5    33/s. 

Aug.  26, 1747   53  1 

Aug.  31,1747  53  6 

Apr.     7, 1747  33  o 

May  13, 1747  38  1 

Aug.  26, 1747  53  1 


Hatfield 

Marlborough  Died 

Rehoboth 

Mendon 

Hadley 

Westborough      " 

Springfield 

Westboro 

<«  (i 

Sunderland         " 
Mendon      (Left  sick) 


Sept. 

Nov. 

Aug. 

Jan. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

May 

July 

July 


27, 1747 
17,1746 

21,  I746 

23, 1747 
21,1747 

12, I747 
22, I747 

30,1747 
16, 1747 
21,1747 


Ware  River  (Left  sick 
at  ye  hos- 

pital) 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  187-188. 


Since 

returned   but   can't  say 

the  time. 


Notes  529 

Hampshire  SS.  Deerfield,  Sept.  19,  1749. 
Then  John  Hawks  personally  appearing  made  oath  that  the  preceding  roll 
contains  an  account  of  the  men  taken  with  him  at  Fort  Massachusetts,  Aug.  20, 

1746,  and  also  an  account  of  their  decease,  and  return  to  their  several  homes. 

Before  William  Williams,  Just.  Pads. 

The  following  women  and  their  children  taken  captive  at  Fort  Massa- 
chusetts died  as  follows1: 

Miriam  Scott,  wife  of  Moses  Scott  Died  Dec.  1 1 ,  1 746 

Rebecca  Perry,  wife  of  John  Perry  "  Dec.  23,  1746 

Moses  Scott  (two  years  old),  son  of  Moses  Scott  "  Feb.   11,1747 

Mary  Smead,  wife  of  John  Smead,  Sr.  "  Mar.  29,  1747 
Captivity  Smead  (9  months  old),  daughter  of 

John  Smead,  Sr.  "  May  17,  1747 

The  surviving  captives2  of  Fort  Massachusetts  returned  to  Boston,  August  16, 

1747,  according  to  Rev.  John  Norton's  Journal,3  published  under  the  title, 
The  Redeemed  Captive,  by  the  printer,  Daniel  Fowle,  Queen  Street,  Boston,  in 

1748,  Gen.  E.  Hoyt  of  Deerfield  in  preparing  his  Antiquarian  Researches  in 
1824  quoted  from  Norton's  Journal.  General  Hoyt  died  in  1850  and  Norton's 
Journal  passed  down  to  the  Pomeroy  family  and  all  traces  of  the  MS.  are  now 
lost.     These  were  the  redeemed  captives: 

Sergt.  John  Hawks     Resided  in  Deerfield  until  death  in  1784. 

Rev.  John  Norton  "        "  East  Hampton,  Ct.,  until  death  in  1778. 

Stephen  Scott 

David  Warren 

John  Perry  "        "  Putney,    Vt.,    where    he    in    company   with 

Philip  Alexander  and  Michael  Gilson  built 

Fort  Putney. 
Joseph  Scott 
John  Aldrich 
Moses  Scott 

Benjamin  Simonds  "        "  Williamstown  until  death  in  1807. 

John  Smead,  Sr.  "        "  Pequog  (Athol)  until  death  Oct.,  1747. 

Mary  Smead     ~) 

Elihu  Smead       >      Children  of  John  Smead,  Sr. 
Simon  Smea  1     ) 
Ebenezer  Scott  Son  of  Moses  Scott. 


1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  179-185. 

2  lb.,  p.  189. 

3  lb.,  pp.  124-185. 


530 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


V 

[Page  144] 

RECRUITING  MUSTER  ROLL  OF  GARRISON  SOLDIERS  OF  FORT 
MASSACHUSETTS,  UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT. 
EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS,  AUGUST  20,  1746,  MANY  OF  WHOM 
SERVED  IN  THE  SECOND  FORT  IN  I747-1 


Ephraim  Williams,  Jr. 

Capt. 

Stockbridge 

Elisha  Hawley 

Lieut. 

Northampton 

Daniel  Severance 

Lieut. 

Fawl  Town 

Caleb  Chapin 

Sergt. 

Fawl  Town 

Elisha  Chapin 

Sergt. 

Springfield 

Nathaniel  Eustis 

Sergt. 

Goare 

Adonijah  Atherton   ■ 

Sergt. 

Deerfield 

Ebenezer  Gould 

Sergt. 

Chelmsford 

Charles  Parmeter 

Sergt. 

Sudbury 

Jonathan  Stone 

Sergt. 

Leicester 

Abraham  Bass 

Sergt. 

Worcester 

John  Hooker 

Gunner 

Hatfield 

Richard  Treat 

Chaplain 

Sheffield 

Phineas  Nevers 

Surgeon 

Deerfield 

Isaac  Wyman 

Clerk 

Woburn 

Ebenezer  Reed 

Cent. 

Simsbury 

Barnard  Wilds 

Rodetown 

Edmond  Town 

Framingham 

John  Harris 

London 

Thomas  Waubun 

Sherburn 

Micah  Harrington 

Western 

Benj'n  Gould 

Woburn 

William  Williston 

Rehoboth 

Esack  Johnson 

Rehoboth 

Charles  Wintor 

Oxbridge 

James  Hathon 

Ireland 

Richard  Staudley 

Loudon 

Abner  Robarts 

Sutton 

Jonathan  Barren 

Westfield 

Timothy  Hollen 

Sutton 

Moses  Attucks 

Leicester 

John  Crofford 

Western 

Daniel  Ward 

Upton 

William  Sabin 

Brookfield 

Fortu's  Taylor 

Leicester 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  213-214. 


Notes 


53i 


Silas  Pratt 
Charles  Coats 
Seth  Hudson 
Samuel  Abbot 
Ithamar  Healey 
John  Barnard 
John  Morison 
John  Henry 
John  Martin 
Ezekiel  Wells 
Samuel  Wells 
George  Quaquagid 
Thomas  George 
Ebenezer  Graves 
John  Bush 
John  Taylor 
Conawoca  Delow 
John  Harmon 
Nath.  Brooks 
Stephen  Collier 
Jonathan  Ennis 
John  Perkins 
Aaron  Denio 
Benj'n  Hastings 
Benj'n  Fassett 
Benj'n  Robbarts 


Cent. 


Shrewsbury 

Deerfield 

Marlborough 

Hardwick 

Rehoboth 

Waltham 

Colrain 

Colrain 

Sudbury 

Rodetown 

Rodetown 

New  London 

New  London 

Deerfield 

Summers 

Long  Island 

Deerfield 

Deerfield 

Deerfield 

Oxford 

Summers 

Summers 

Deerfield 


Westford 


VI 

[Page  148] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  THE  COMPANY  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE 
UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  LIEUT.  ELISHA  HAWLEY. 
DATED,  DECEMBER,  1747,  TILL  MARCH,  1748,  AT  FORT 
MASSACHUSETTS1 

Elisha  Hawley 
John  Foster 
Ebenezer  Gould 
Oliver  Avery 
Oliver  Barret 
Jesse  Heath 
Jonathan  Barron 
Abraham  Bass 


Lieut. 

Northampton 

Sergt. 

Deerfield 

Corp'l 

Chelmsford 

Cent. 

Deerfield 

u 

Dracut 

u 

Woodstock 

It 

Worcester 

Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  233-234. 


532 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Thomas  Hooper           Cent.      Mendon 

Daniel  Ward                    ' 

4          Shrewsbury 

Zachariah  Hicks              4 

*          Sutton 

Richard  Burt                   ' 

*          Kingston 

John  Crooks                    ' 

1           Marlborough 

Richard  Staudley            ' 

4          Woburn 

Nathaniel  Smith              ' 

4          Marlborough 

David  Thomson              ' 

4          Bilerica 

Daniel  Kinney                ' 

4          Sutton 

Thomas  Blodget             ' 

4          Chelmsford 

Isaac  Wyman                  * 

4          Woburn 

Nathaniel  Hunt              ' 

4          Dracut 

Eliseus  Barron                * 

'          Dracut 

Joseph  Wilson                  ' 

1          Bilerica 

John  Corey                       4 

4          New  Bedford? 

James  Smith                    ' 

Leicester 

Jonathan  Dutton            * 

4          Bilerica 

Joseph  Washburn           4 

Edward  Brooks               ' 

4          Western 

Fortunatus  Taylor          4 

Shrewsbury 

Amasa  Cranson               ' 

Shrewsbury 

Benjamin  Fairbank        4 

Dudley 

William  McClallan         ' 

4          Worcester 

Silas  Pratt                       ' 

4          Worcester 

Abner  Robards                4 
Moses  Peter  Attucks      ' 

Leicester 

John  Crofford                  ' 

Worcester 

Samuel  Bowman             4 

4          Worcester 

Abraham  Peck                ' 
Hezekiah  Wood               ' 
William  Sabins                ' 

4          Brookfield 

John  Morse                     ' 

4          Woodstock 

Ceasar  Negro                  4 

Thomas  Walkup             ' 

Joseph  Bates                   4 

Dracut 

(Negro  slave  of  John  White1) 


(Slave  of  Hezekiah  Ward1) 


Slavery  abolished  in  Massachusetts,  1 780-1 781. 


Notes 


533 


VII 


[Page  148] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  THE  COMPANY  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE 
UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS, 
JUN'R,  AT  FORT  MASSACHUSETTS.  DATED  MARCH  TO 
DECEMBER  II,  17491 


Ephraim  Williams,  Jun'r 

Capt. 

John  Henry 

Elisha  Hawley 

Lieut. 

John  Harmon 

Elisha  Chapin 

Sergt. 

Benja  Hastings 

Caleb  Chapin 

Sergt. 

John  Morrison 

Nathaniel  Eustis 

Sergt. 

Silas  Pratt 

Charles  Parmetor 

Corpl. 

Benja  Roberts 

Jonathan  Stone 

Corpl. 

Abner  Roberts 

Abraham  Bass 

Corpl. 

Ebenezer  Reed  (Read?) 

Isaac  Wyman 

Clerk 

James  Smith 

John  Hooker 

Gun'r. 

Edmond  Town 

Phineas  Nevers 

Surge. 

Fortunatus  Taylor 

Seth  Hudson 

Surge. 

John  Taylor 

Oliver  Avery 

Cent. 

Daniel  Ward 

Moses  Peter  Attucks 

11 

William  Williston 

(Negro  slave  of  John  White) 

Samuel  Wells 

Jonathan  Barron 

Cent. 

Simeon  Wells 

John  Bush 

i< 

Samuel  Calhoun  (Calhoon) 

Nathan'l  Brooks 

14 

Daniel  Graves 

John  Crofford  (Crawford?)     " 

Nath.  Harvey 

Charles  Coats 

It 

Barnard  Wiles  (Barnabas 

William  Sanderson 

a 

Niles  or  Willis?) 

Charles  Denio 

ti 

Samuel  Taylor 

Jonathan  Evans 

it 

Leml  Avery 

Ebenezer  Graves 

ti 

Ceasar  Negro  (Slave  of 

Micah  Harrington 

11 

Hezekiah  Ward) 

James  Hathorn  (Haw- 

11 

Zacha.  Hicks 

thorne?) 

Moses  Tenney 

Timothy  Holton 

i< 

Benja  Tilton2 

Ithemer  Healy 

U 

Cent. 


1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  231-232. 

2  The  names :  Calhoun,  Morrison,  Denio,  Crawford,  Henry,  Healey,  Tilton, 
etc.,  are  of  Scotch-Irish  origin.  Several  of  the  first  proprietors  of  Hoosac  and 
Walloomsac  towns. 


534 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


VIII 

[Page  148] 

MUSTER  ROLLS  OF  THE  COMPANIES  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S 
SERVICE  OF  FORTS  MASSACHUSETTS,  SHIRLEY,  AND 
PELHAM,  UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  EPHRAIM 
WILLIAMS,  JUN'R.     DATED  DECEMBER  II,  1749-JUNE  3,  17501 


Fort  Massachusetts 
Ephraim  Williams  Capt. 

Elisha  Hawley  Lieut. 

Isaac  Wyman  Clerk 

Seth  Hudson  Surgeon 

Oliver  Avery  Cent1. 

Samuel  Avery 
Abraham  Bass 
Ebenezer  Graves 
John  Hooker 
Micah  Harrington 
John  Harmon 
Silas  Pratt 
Abner  Robbarts 
Ebenezer  Reed 
John  Taylor 
William  Williston 
Samuel  Taylor 
Samuel  Calhoun 
Nathaniel  Harvey 
Ezekiel  Foster 
Moses  Tenny 
(Foster  was  "omitted  in  my  last") 
(Tenny  do.  "on  Captain  Williams 
Roll") 


Fort  Shirley 


Lieut. 


William  Lyman 

Peter  Bovee  (A  Dutch- 
man from  Kriegger 
Colony)  Cent1. 

Gershom  Hawks  (Nephew 
of  Sergt.  John  Hawks) 

John  Pannell 

Samuel  Stebbins  " 

Fort  Pelham 

Joseph  Allen  (Joseph 
Allen  of  Northampton 
was  father  of  "Fighting 
Parson"  Thomas  Allen 
of  Pittsfield,  a  cousin  of 
Ethan  Allen  of  Benning- 
ton) Sergt. 

Joshua  Hawks  Cent1. 

Joshua  Wells 

Daniel  Donnilson 

William  Stevens 


IX 
[Page  150] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  THE  COMPANY  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE 
UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS, 
JUN'R,  AT  FORT  MASSACHUSETTS.  DATED  JUNE  4,  1750- 
JANUARY  13,  1751* 


Ephraim  Williams  Capt.  Elisha  Hawley 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  234. 
*  Ibid,  p.  236. 


Lieut. 


Notes  535 


Oliver  Avery  Cent.  Seth  Hudson                         Cent. 

Lemuel  Avery  "  Elisha  Chapin  " 

Abraham  Bass  "  Abner  Roberts  ** 

Samuel  Calhoun  "  Samuel  Taylor  " 

Ezekiel  Foster  "  Isaac  Wyman  " 

Ebenezer  Graves  M  Paul  Langdon  " 

Micah  Harrington  Aaron  Van  Horn(  Omitted 

Nathaniel  Harvey  on  my  Roll  Ending  1746)  u 

Boston,  Jan.  13,  1751.     Errors  Excepted. 
Per  Ephraim  Williams. 

X 

[Pages  128,  150] 

CAPT.  EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS,  JR.'S  LETTER* 

Addressed  to  the  Hon.  Spencer  Phips  Esq'r, — Lieut.-Governor  and 
Commander-in-Chief  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  at  Cambridge. 

Fort  Massachusetts,  Sept.  3,  1751. 
May  it  plese  your  Honour 

Last  week  came  to  ye  fort  8  Scattecook  Indians,  who  told  me  the  land  was 
theirs,  and  that  the  English  had  no  Business  to  Settle  it  UntUl  such  times  as 
they  had  purchased  of  them.  They  further  said  yt  when  we  began  to  Build 
the  first  Fort,  they  told  the  English  they  must  not  Build  the  Fort  Except  they 
would  pay  them  for  the  land,  and  that  the  Commandr  had  promist  them  pay, 
but  the  English  had  not  been  as  good  as  their  word.  In  answer  I  told  them  as 
to  what  promises  they  had  had,  I  was  not  Accountable,  but  be  they  what  they 
would,  I  did  not  Suppose  they  were  binding  Upon  Us  now,  for  it  was  well 
known  that  their  tribe  was  in  the  French  Interest  the  last  war,  and  that  a  num- 
ber of  them  assisted  in  taking  the  Fort  and  that  we  now  held  the  land  by  Right 
of  Conquest. 

They  said  it  was  true  a  number  of  ye  tribe  was  gone  to  Canada  but  they  were 
not  the  proper  owners  of  the  land.  I  told  them  if  those  Indians  were  here  they 
would  challenge  the  land  as  they  now  did,  and  denie  that  ever  they  were  in  the 
French  interest,  that  if  the  English  were  disposed  to  purchase  the  land  it  was 
Impossible  to  know  who  were  the  right  owners,  notwithstanding  I  would 
inform  the  govr  and  Doubted  not  but  he  would  lay  the  matter  before  the 
Court,  but  then  I  must  know  how  much  land  they  called  theirs,  and  what 
their  price  was;  they  told  me  it  was  theirs  as  far  South  as  the  head  of  all 
streams  that  Emtied  into  Hoosuck  River,  (on  the  Ashawaghsac  in  Lanesboro 
and  Green  River  in  Hancock)  and  their  price  was  £800  ye  York  money.  I  told 
them  I  thought  the  price  was  anough,  and  that  the  Province  would  not  give 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  243-244. 


536  The  Hoosac  Valley 

it.  there  is  no  doubt  with  me  but  yt  the  French  are  at  the  bottom  of  all 
this,  a  part  of  this  tribe  is  now  at  Canada,  and  in  order  to  git  the  Rest  they 
have  set  a  price  for  the  land  they  know  we  never  will  comply  with.  Last 
night  came  to  the  Fort  2  French  men  and  one  English  Captive  whose  name  is 
John  Carter  he  was  taken  when  Deerfield  was  Destroyed  (1704)  he  is  now 
maried  in  Canada  and  has  a  family  there :  the  French  mens  mother  is  an  Eng- 
lish Captive  taken  at  the  same  time  she  was  old  Mr  Thomas  French's  Daughter, 
they  had  a  pass  from  the  goven  of  Canada,  and  are  agoing  to  see  yr  Relations 
as  they  say;  but  if  the  truth  was  known  I  believe  they  are  Sent  for 
Spies. 

I  askt  them  what  news;  they  said  there  was  14  ships  from  France  several  of 
which  were  men  of  war,  but  they  had  brought  any  news  remarkable  I  then 
Inquired  whether  the  Indians  want  gone  to  war  Upon  our  frontiers  in  the 
Eastern  Country  they  said  No,  they  had  done  now. 

Concerning  the  Deer  your  Honr  spoke  to  em  about.  I  have  done  all  that 
has  been  in  my  power  to  serve  you  though  to  little  purpose.  I  have  been  20 
miles  west  of  Albany  but  could  not  git  any. 

I  should  have  Informed  you  Sooner  but  had  not  an  opportunity  except  I 
should  have  sent  your  Honour  an  Express  which  I  dont  Remember  was  your 
Desire 

I  am  Sr  your  Hons  most  obedient  Humble  Serv* 

Eph.  Williams  Junr. 

Governor  Phips. 

(endorsed) 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  23, 1752.  Read  and  Voted  that  Col. 
Lydius  of  the  City  of  Albany  together  with  the  within  named  Capt.  Ephraim 
Williams  be  desired  to  make  a  thorough  Enquiry  respecting  the  Indian  Title  to 
the  said  lands,  whether  they  belong  to  said  Scauticook  Indians  or  other  Indians 
living  near  the  Hudson's  River,  or  at  Stockbridge — And  report  thereon  to  this 
Court  as  soon  as  may  be. 

XI 

[Page  152] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  THE  COMPANY  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE 
UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  ELISHA  CHAPIN  OF  FORT 
MASSACHUSETTS.     DATED,  JUNE  1752-JUNE  1753' 

Elisha  Chapin  Capt.  Silas  Pratt  Cen'tl 

Isaac  Wyman  Serg't  Samuel  Taylor  " 

Abraham  Bass  Cent'l  Peter  Boovee  " 


Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  249. 


Notes 


537 


Gad  Chapin 

Cent'l 

Christopher  Tyler 

Ezekiel  Foster 

«i 

Thomas  Train 

John  Crawford 

it 

Archibal  Panil  (of  Fort 

Samuel  Calhoun 

n 

Shirley) 

John  Adams 

a 

George  Hall  (of  Fort 

Elijah  Brown 

it 

Pelham) " 

John  Chamberlin 

u 

XII 

[Page  152] 

Cent'l 


LAST  MUSTER  ROLL  IN  HIS  MAJESTY'S  SERVICE  UNDER  THE 
COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  EPHRAIM  WILLIAMS,  JUN'R,  OF  FORT 
MASSACHUSETTS.     DATED,  SEPTEMBER,  1754-MARCH,  17551 


Ephraim  Williams 

Capt. 

John  Crofford                        Ce 

Isaac  Wyman 

Lieut. 

John  Bowin 

Samuel  Taylor 

Sergt. 

Thomas  Trail  (Train?) 

Edmond  Town 

Sergt. 

John  Herrold                             ' 

Gad  Chapin 

Sergt. 

Micha  Harrington                    * 

Oliver  Avery 

Corp'l 

Ezra  Parker 

Sam'l  Calhoun 

Corp'l 

John  Balsh 

Sam'l  Catlin 

Cent. 

Josiah  Goodwish                      ' 

John  Taylor 

u 

Nath.  Nickells 

Elisha  Higgins 

" 

John  Gray 

Benja  King 

t* 

Seth  Hudson 

George  Wilson 

it 

Mayhew  Daggitt 

John  Rosher 

<t 

Gideon  Warren 

Tyrus  Pratt 

u 

Elisha  Sheldon 

Noah  Pratt 

It 

Simeon  Crawford 

Abraham  Bass 

11 

John  Meacham 

Jeremi'h  Chapin 

tl 

Derrick  Webb                           ' 

John  Mills 

11 

Benja.  Simonds                         ' 

Enoch  Chapin 

11 

Gad  Corse                                ' 

Silas  Pratt 

11 

Henry  Stiles                             ' 

Ezekiel  Foster 

u 

Captain  Williams  took  oath  of  correctness  of  Muster  Roll  at  Boston, 
June  13,  1755. 


1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  266. 


538 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


XIII 

[Page  153] 
MUSTER  ROLL  OF  THE    COMPANY    IN    HIS    MAJESTY'S   SER- 
VICE   UNDER    CAPT.    ISAAC   WYMAN,    IN     COMMAND    OF 
FORT     MASSACHUSETTS    DURING     COL.      EPHRAIM    WIL- 
LIAMS'S  MARCH  TO   LAKE  GEORGE.      DATED,  JULY,  17551 

Cent. 


Isaac  Wyman 

Capt. 

Joseph  Lovell 

Samuel  Taylor 

Sergt. 

Josiah  Sodwick 

Edmond  Town 

Sergt. 

Pall  Rice 

Sal  ah  Barnard 

Ens. 

John  Crawford 

Elisha  Chapin 

Clerk 

John  Calhoun  (Illegible)? 

Ebenzr  Graves 

Cent. 

Jabiz  Warren 

John  Wells 

ti 

Derick  Webb 

Tyrus  Pratt 

ti 

Benj'n  Simonds 

Thorns  Train 

«< 

Seth  Hudson 

Gad  Corse 

it 

Gidan  Warren 

John  Van  Norman 

Joseph  Brush 

(A  Dutchman  from 

John  Holdbroock 

Kriegger  Colony) 

M 

Daniel  Miller 

Elijah  Sheldon 

tt 

Joseph  Richards 

Benjn  King 

«« 

Samel  Hudson 

George  Wilson 

tt 

Isaac  Searles 

Noah  Pratt 

tt 

William  Barron 

Abram  Bass 

it 

Simon  Morgan 

Enoch  Chapin 

tt 

Ezekl  Day 

Silas  Pratt 

it 

Isaac  Morgan 

Adington  Gardner 

tt 

Levy  Eley 

Isaac  Bond 

tt 

Joseph  Bigelow  (Deserted) 

The  above  Muster  Roll  was  forwarded  to  Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  it  is 
believed,  by  Sergt.  Edmond  Town,  who  was  a  messenger  or  express  between 
Fort  Massachusetts  and  Colonel  Williams's  Greenbush  encampment  until  his 
march  to  Lake  George. 

XIV 
[Pages  179,  192] 
MUSTER    ROLL    OF  THE    COMPANY    OF  MUSKET    MEN,   CON- 
TAINING 59  ENGLISH  HOOSAC  MINUTE  MEN  UNDER  CAPT. 
SAMUEL  SLOAN,  WHO  MARCHED  WITH  GENERAL  ARNOLD'S 
REGIMENT  AGAINST  QUEBEC,  1775-1776- a 
Samuel  Sloan  Capt.  Williamstown      On  command  to  Quebec 

Zebediah  Sabin  1st  Lieut.  "  "  "         "       " 

Enos  Parker  2d  Lieut.     E.  Hoosuck 

1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  p.  309. 
1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  39-40. 


Notes 


539 


Asaph  Cook                       Sergt. 

E.  Hoosuck 

David  Johnson 

Williamstown 

Bartholomew  Woodcock      " 

it 

Alexander  Sloan                     " 

<< 

Barachiah  Johnson            Corp. 

tt 

Thaddeus  Munson 

Lanesborough 

William  May  hew                   " 

New  Providence 

James  McMaster 

Williamstown 

Charles  King                      Drummer 

Sheffield 

Ichabod  Parker                  Soldier 

E.  Hoosuck 

Ezra  Church                           " 

Williamstown 

William  Spencer                    " 

<< 

Jesse  Jewell 

E.  Hoosuck 

Edward  Bailey- 

Lanesborough 

Daniel  Johnson                      " 

Williamstown 

Charles  Sabin                         " 

" 

Foard  Bass                            " 

E.  Hoosuck 

James  Andrews 

Williamstown 

David  Parkhill 

it 

Elijah  Flynt 

tt 

Starling  Daniels 

u 

Joshua  Smedley                     " 

tt 

Jonathan  Hall                        " 

tt 

Henry  Wilcox 

tt 

Nathaniel  Parker                  " 

E.  Hoosuck 

Samuel  Pettebone                  " 

Lanesborough 

William  Bennett 

E.  Hoosuck 

Jere.  Osburn 

Williamstown 

Anthony  Lamb 

tt 

Eliphalet  White 

E.  Hoosuck 

Benjamin  Dibble 

<<          a 

Samuel  Wilcox 

Williamstown 

Israel  Mead 

New  Ashford 

William  Bates 

a          n 

Joites  Barns 

E.  Hoosuck 

Andrew  Hinman 

Lanesborough 

Samuel  Clark 

14 

Thomas  Whitney                  " 

tt 

Isaiah  Honeywell 

tt 

John  Hall 

tt 

Joseph  Lawrence 

Gageborough 

Thomas  Pall 

New  Providence 

Seth  Pettebone 

Lanesborough 

Jeremiah  Collins 

New  Providence 

540 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


James  Holden  Soldier 

Moses  Rich 
Ebenezer  Hutchinson 
Timothy  Sherwood 
William  Young 
Absalom  Baker 
Michael  Watkins 
Duncan  Dunn 
William  Popkins 
Alexander  Spencer 
Alexander  Spencer,  Jr. 
Ahasuel  Turret 


E.  Hoosuck 
Williamstown 


New  Providence 
E.  Hoosuck 
Boston 
Williamstown 


In  the  train  I  July. 
Discharged  I  Oct. 
On  command  to  Quebec 
Discharged  20  Sept. 


XV 


[Page  277] 

THE  GREEN  MOUNTAIN  SETTLERS'  PETITION' 

To  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty. 

The  humble  petition  of  the  several  subscribers  hereto,  your  majesty's  most 
loyal  subjects,  sheweth  to  your  majesty: 

That  we  obtained  at  considerable  expense  of  our  majesty's  governor  of 
the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  grants  and  patents  for  more  than  100  town- 
ships in  the  western  parts  of  the  said  supposed  province;  and  being  about  to 
settle  same  many  of  us,  and  others  of  us,  having  actually  planted  ourselves  on 
the  same,  were  disagreeably  surprised  and  prevented  from  going  on  with  the 
further  intended  settlements,  by  the  news  of  its  having  been  determined  by 
your  majesty  in  council  that  those  lands  were  within  the  province  of  N.  Y.  and 
by  a  proclamation  issued  by  Lieut.-Gov.  Colden  in  consequence  thereof,  for- 
bidding any  further  settlement  until  patents  of  confirmation  should  be  obtained 
from  the  governor  of  N.  Y.  Whereupon  we  applied  to  the  governor  of  said 
province  of  N.  Y.  to  have  the  same  lands  confirmed  to  us  in  the  same  manner  as 
they  had  been  at  first  granted  to  us  by  the  governor  of  said  N.  H. ;  when,  to  our 
utter  astonishment,  we  found  the  same  could  not  be  done  without  our  paying 
as  fees  of  office  for  the  same  at  the  rate  of  25  pounds  New  York  money,  equal 
to  about  14  pounds  sterling,  for  every  1000  acres  of  said  lands,  amounting  to 
about  330  pounds  sterling  at  a  medium,  for  each  of  said  townships,  and  which 
will  amount  in  the  whole  to  about  33,000  pounds  sterling,  besides  a  quit  rent 
of  two  shillings  and  sixpence  sterling  for  every  hundred  acres  of  said  lands;  and 
which  being  utterly  unable  to  do  and  preform,  we  find  ourselves  reduced  to  the 
sad  necessity  of  losing  all  our  past  expense  and  advancements ;  and  many  of  us 
being  so  reduced  to  absolute  poverty  and  want,  having  expended  our  all  in 
making  said  settlements. 

*  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  iv.,  1027. 


Notes  541 


Whereupon  your  petitioners  beg  leave  most  humbly  to  observe: 

I — That  when  we  applied  for  and  obtained  said  grants  of  said  lands, 
the  same  were  and  had  been  at  all  times  fully  understood  and  reported  to  lie 
and  be  within  the  said  province  of  N.  H.,  and  were  within  the  power  of  the 
governor  of  that  province  to  grant ;  so  that  your  petitioners  humbly  hope  they 
are  equitably  entitled  to  a  confirmation  of  the  said  grants  to  them. 

II — The  said  grants  were  made  and  received  on  the  moderate  terms  of 
your  petitioner's  paying  as  a  quit  rent  one  shilling  only,  proclamation  money, 
equal  to  nine  pence  sterling  per  hundred  acres ;  and  which  induced  us  to  under- 
take to  settle  said  townships  throughout  and  thereby  to  form  a  full  and  com- 
pacted country  of  people,  whereas  the  imposing  the  said  two  shillings  and  six 
pence  sterling  per  hundred  acres  will  occasion  all  the  more  rough  and  unprofit- 
able parts  of  said  lands  not  to  be  taken  up;  but  pitches,  and  the  more  valuable 
parcels  only  to  be  laid  out,  to  the  utter  preventing  the  full  and  proper  settle- 
ment of  said  country,  and  in  the  whole  to  the  lessening  your  majesty's  revenue. 

Ill — Your  humble  petitioners  conceive,  that  the  insisting  to  have  large 
and  very  exorbitant  fees  of  office  to  arise  and  be  computed  upon  every  thousand 
acres  in  every  township  of  six  or  perhaps  more  miles  square,  and  that  when  one 
patent,  one  seal  and  one  step  only  of  every  kind,  towards  the  completing  such 
patents  of  confirmation  respectively  is  necessary,  is  without  all  reasonable  and 
equitable  foundation,  and  must  and  will  necessarily  terminate  in  totally  pre- 
venting your  petitioners  obtaining  the  said  lands,  and  so  the  same  will  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  rich,  to  be  taken  up,  the  more  valuable  parts  only  as  aforesaid, 
and  those  perhaps  not  entered  upon  and  settled  for  many  years  to  come ;  while 
your  petitioners  with  their  numerous  and  helpless  families,  will  be  obliged  to 
wander  far  and  wide  to  find  where  to  plant  themselves  down,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
live. 

Whereupon  your  petitioners  most  humbly  pray  and  earnestly  hope  that  your 
majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  take  their  distressed  state  and  condi- 
tion into  your  royall  consideration,  and  order  that  we  have  our  said  lands 
confirmed  and  aquitted  to  us  on  such  reasonable  terms,  and  in  such  way  and 
manner  as  your  majesty  shall  think  fit. 

Further,  we  beg  leave  to  say,  that  if  it  might  be  consistent  with  your 
majesty's  royal  pleasure,  we  shall  esteem  it  a  very  great  favor  and  happiness, 
to  have  said  townships  put  and  continued  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  said 
province  of  N.  H. ;  as  at  first,  as  every  emolument  and  convenience  both  public 
and  private,  are  in  your  petitioners'  humble  opinion  clearly  and  strongly  on  the 
side  of  such  connection  with  the  said  N.  H.  province.  All  which  favors,  or 
such  and  so  many  of  them  as  to  your  majesty  shall  seem  meet  to  grant,  we 
humble  ask ;  or  that  your  majesty  will  in  some  other  way,  grant  relief  to  your 
petitioners;  and  they,  as  in  duty  bound  shall  ever  pray. 

Signed  and  Dated  in  New  England,  Nov.  1766;   and  in  the  seventh  year  of 
his  majesty's  reign. 


542  The  Hoosac  Valley 

The  original  manuscript  Petition,  with  most  of  the  settlers*  signa- 
tures, was  found  among  the  papers  of  William  Samuel  Johnson,  attorney  of 
Samuel  Robinson,  Sr.  It  is  now  deposited  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  at  Montpelier,  Vt.  The  MS.  of  the  Diary  of  Mr.  Johnson,  while  in 
London  with  Samuel  Robinson,  descended  to  his  grandson,  William  Samuel 
Johnson,  of  Stratford,  Conn. 

XVI 

[Page  277] 
REBUKE  OF  THE  KING  TO  GOVERNOR  MOORE 
Lord  Shelburne's  Letter1 

White  Hall,  April  11,  1767. 

Sir:  Two  petitions  having  been  most  humbly  presented  to  the  king  in 
council,  one  by  the  incorporated  society  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  other  by  Samuel  Robinson,  of  Bennington,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  more 
than  one  thousand  other  grantees  of  lands  on  the  west  side  of  Connecticut 
river,  under  certain  grants  issued  by  Benning  Wentworth,  Esq.,  Governor  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  preparing  for  redress  in  several  very  great  grievances 
therein  set  forth,  lest  there  should  be  any  further  proceedings  in  this  matter 
till  such  time  as  the  council  shall  have  examined  into  the  grounds  of  it,  I  am  to 
signify  to  you  his  majesty's  commands  that  you  make  no  new  grants  of  those 
lands,  and  that  you  do  not  molest  any  person  in  quiet  possession  of  his  grant, 
who  can  produce  good  and  valid  deeds  for  such  grant  under  the  seal  of  the 
province  of  New  Hampshire  until  you  receive  further  orders  respecting  them. 

In  my  letter  of  the  nth  of  Dec.  I  was  very  explicit  upon  the  point  former 
grants.  You  are  therein  directed  to  take  care  that  the  inhabitants  lying 
westward  of  the  line  reported  by  the  board  of  trade  as  the  boundary  of  the  two 
provinces  be  not  molested  on  account  of  territorial  differences,  or  disputed 
jursidiction  for  whatever  province  the  settlers  may  be  found  to  belong  to,  it 
should  make  no  difference  to  their  property,  provided  that  their  titles  to  their 
lands  should  be  found  good  in  other  respects,  or  that  they  have  long  been  in  the 
uninterrupted  possession  of  them. 

His  majesty's  intentions  are  so  clearly  expressed  to  you  in  the  above  para- 
graph, that  I  cannot  doubt  of  your  having  immediately  upon  receipt  of  it 
removed  any  cause  of  those  complaints  which  the  petitioners  set  forth.  If  not, 
it  is  the  King's  express  command  that  it  may  be  done  without  the  smallest 
delay.  The  power  of  granting  lands  was  vested  in  the  governors  of  the  colony, 
originally  for  the  purpose  of  accommodating,  not  distressing  settlers,  especially 
the  poor  and  industrious.  Any  perversion  of  that  power,  therefore,  must  be 
highly  derogatory,  both  from  the  dignity  of  their  stations  and  from  the  dis- 

1  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  iv.,  589. 


Notes  543 

interested  character  which  a  governor  ought  to  support,  and  which  his  majesty 
expects  from  every  person  honoured  with  his  commission.  The  unreasonable- 
ness of  obliging  a  very  large  tract  of  country  to  pay  a  second  time  the  immense 
sum  of  33,000  pounds  in  fees,  according  to  the  allegations  of  this  petition,  for 
no  other  reason  than  its  being  found  necessary  to  settle  the  line  of  boundary 
between  the  colonies  in  question,  is  so  unjustifiable  that  his  majesty  is  not  only 
determined  to  have  the  strictest  inquiry  made  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
charge,  but  expects  the  clearest  and  fullest  answer  to  every  part  of  it. 

I  am,  etc. 

Shelburne. 
Sir  Henry  Moore,  Bart. 

XVII 

[Page  278] 

TREATY  OF  THE  SETTLERS  OF  ENGLISH  WALLOOMSAC  TOWNS 
WITH  THE  STOCKBRIDGE  INDIANS  FOR  THE  SCHAGHTI- 
COKES'    HOOSAC   HUNTING-GROUNDS1 

Bennington,  New  Hampshire  Grants, 
November  30,  1767. 
Whereas  the  Stockbridge  Indian  Tribe,  Col.  Jacobs  and  others,  Challenge 
twelve  or  more  Townships  of  land  Situate  and  being  On  the  West  Line  of  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire,  as  Chartered  by  Benning  Wentworth  Esq. 
Governor  of  sd  Province,  and  the  sd  Indian  Tribe  are  Willing  and  will  be 
Ready  On  the  First  day  of  January  next  to  Treat  with  us  or  any  one  of  us 
Respecting  their  Title,  and  will  at  that  time  Likewise  appoint  a  Meeting  at 
which  meeting  They  will  make  it  Appear  That  They  are  the  Sole  Owners 
Thereof  and  have  the  only  Proper  and  Lawful  Right  to  Sell  and  Convey  the 
Same;  and  whereas  we  the  Subscribers  whose  names  are  hereunto  Prefixed, 
being  Willing  and  desirous  to  make  Sure  to  Ourselves  and  Successors  a  good 
and  Sufficient  title  to  the  Interests  which  we  now  Possess,  and  to  make  such 
Addition  or  Additions  Thereto  as  Shall  be  Thought  Proper  and  Conductive  to 
our  Several  Interests 

_,       i  Mr.  Jedidiah  Dewey  >  _  ,  _  ,N__ 

By  \  Capt.  John  Fassett  &  S.  Fay  [  Whome  we  dePute  and  Elect  to  Treat 
with  sd  tribe  or  Such  of  them  as  will  be  necessary  to  treat  with,  In  order  to  ye 
procurement  of  a  proper  title  to  Such  Land  and  Lands  Lying  and  being  as 
afores'd,  In  Consideration  of  all  which  we  Severally  Engage  For  ourselves 
Heirs  Exrs  and  Administrators  to  pay  or  Cause  To  be  paid  to  the  sd  Jedidiah, 
John  or  Stephen  the  Severall  Sum  or  Sums  According  to  our  Proprietorship  As 
will  Appear  by  ye  Charter  afores'd  both  ye  Sum  and  Sums  which  he  or  they 
may  give  for  sd  Land  or  Lands  and  ye  Cost  and  Costs  Necessarily  Arising  by 


1  Perry,  Origins  in  Williamstown,  pp.  156-157. 


544  The  Hoosac  Valley 

means  of  the  Procurement  of  sd  Title  and  to  pay  Such  Sum  or  Sums  of  money 
Unto  ye  sd  Jedidiah,  John  or  Stephen  at  Such  time  and  times  as  he  or  they 
Shall  agree  with  the  sd  Tribe  Indian.     Witness  Each  of  our  hands,  &c. 

The  original  MS.  Treaty  was  drawn  up  by  Leonard  Robinson  of  Ben- 
nington. The  sheet  of  paper  used  was  written  on  both  sides,  signed  by 
101  proprietors,  residing  in  Pownal,  Bennington,  and  adjoining  Walloomsac 
towns  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants.  The  quaint  document  is  said  to  be 
deposited  in  the  historical  collection  of  Revolutionary  relics  in  the  George 
Wadsworth  Robinson  Mansion  at  Bennington  Centre,  Vt. 


XVIII 

[Pages  296,  300] 

ARNOLD'S  BILL  OF  EXPENSES « 

The  Honorable  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
To  B.  Arnold,  Dr. 

Disbursements  from  Cambridge  to  Ticonderoga 

1775  £      s.      d. 

May    4 — To  shoeing  horses  on  the  road 8 

To  dinner,  horse  keeping  &c  at  Concord 15      3 

To  shoeing  horse  4s.  6d. ;  liquor,  2s.  8d 7       4 

To  supper  and  lodging  at  Shrewsbury 17       9 

5 — To  breakfast  &c.  at  Holden  10s.  iod.;  dinners,  3s. 

4d.;  suppers  and  lodging,  5s.  6d 19       8 

6 — To  ferrage  at  Deerfield,  is.  6d. ;  breakfast  2s.  2d 3       8 

To  shoeing  horse,  5s.  5d.;  ferrage,  is.  4d. .« 6      9 

To  cash  paid  Capt.  Oswald  at  Shrewsbury,  expenses. . .  18     17       9 

To  cash  paid  Thomas  W.  Dickenson,  expenses  of  cattle  6 

To  Captain  Brown's  bill  of  expence 1       4       7 

To  dinner  and  lodging,  4s.  10. ;  paid  Nehemiah 

Smedley  60s 3       4     10 

7 — To  dinner,  suppers  and  lodging 7       8 

8— To  dinner  &c 6 

10 — To  cash   paid    Captain  Warner,  expenses  to  Crown 

Point 18 

To — of  horses  5s. ;  paid  the  Commissary  3s 8 

13 — To  cash  paid    Sergt.  Anderson    12   gallons  rum   for 

people 2       8 

14 — To  ditto  paid  Mr.  Romans  for  expenses  to  Albany 

and  Hartford 2     16 


Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  27. 


Notes  545 


£      s.    d. 

To  ditto  paid  William  Nichols  express  to  Hartford ....  4       4 

18 — To  ditto  paid  Lewis, expenses  6s., baking  bread  6s.  4d.  .  12       4 

To  ditto  paid  spy  for  intelligence  to  St.  Johns 1       8 

To  expenses  on  the  road  to  St.  Johns 10 

To  Donihue's  bill  at  St.  Johns 2     19       6 

To  cash  paid  Lieut.  Lyman's  expenses 1       6 

To  Walson's  bills  8s. ;  Lyman's  bill  of  expenses  8s.  3d. .  16       3 
20 — To  cash  paid  Capt.  Brown's  expenses  to  Cambridge 

and  back 8     18       8 

To  ditto  paid  Capt.  Nineham,  an  Indian  Ambassador 

from  Stockb ridge  to  Caunawauga 3     12 

XIX 

[Pages  299,  300] 

ARNOLD'S  COMMISSION1 

Massachusetts  Committee  of  Safety,  May  3,  1775. 

To  Benedict  Arnold,  Esq.,  Commander  of  a  body  of  Troops  on  an  Expedition 
to  subdue  and  take  possession  of  the  Fort  of  Ticonderoga. 

Sir: — Confiding  in  your  Judgment,  fidelity  and  Valor,  we  do  by  these 
Presents  constitute  and  appoint  you  Colonel  and  Commander  in  Chief  over  a 
Body  of  Men  not  exceeding  four  hundred,  to  proceed  with  all  expedition  to  the 
Western  parts  of  this  and  the  neighboring  Colonies,  where  you  are  directed  to 
enlist  those  Men  and  with  them  forthwith  to  march  to  the  Fort  at  Ticonderoga 
and  use  your  best  endeavors  to  reduce  the  same,  taking  possession  of  the 
Cannon,  Mortars,  Stores,  and  also  the  vessel  and  other  Cannon  and  Stores 
upon  the  Lake;  you  are  to  bring  back  with  you  such  of  the  Cannon  and 
Mortars,  Stores,  &c,  as  you  shall  judge  may  be  serviceable  to  the  Army  here 
(Cambridge) ,  leaving  behind  what  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the  Post  with  a 
sufficient  Garrison.  You  are  to  secure  suitable  Provisions  and  Stores  for  the 
Army,  and  draw  upon  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  the  amount  thereof,  and  to 
act  in  every  exigence  according  to  your  best  skill  and  discretion  for  the  publick 
Interest — for  which  this  shall  be  your  sufficient  Warrant. 

Benja  Church,  Jun'r, 

By  Order  Chairman  Corn1  tee  of  Safety. 

William  Cooper,  Sec'y. 

1  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  p.  26. 


546 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


XX 

[Pages  323,  337] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  EAST  BENNINGTON  COMPANY  CONTAIN- 
ING 77  NAMES  UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  SAMUEL 
ROBINSON,  AUG.  16,  17771 


Samuel  Robinson 

Capt. 

Aaron  Miller                          Sole 

Simeon  Hatheway 

Lieut. 

John  Fay                                   ' 

William  Henry 

Lieut. 

Elijah  Fay                                  ■ 

David  Fay 

Fifer 

Joseph  Fay                                 ' 

Robert  Cochran 

Officer 

John  Clark                                 ' 

Gideon  Spencer 

" 

Jehoshaphat  Holmes                  ' 

Henry  Walbridge 

Soldier 

Moses  Rice                                 ' 

Rufus  Branch   ■ 

" 

Benjamine  Whipple,  Jr.             ' 

John  Larned 

" 

Silas  Robinson                             ' 

Thomas  Abel 

it 

John  Weeks                                ' 

Nathan  Lawrence 

a 

Moses  Scott                                ' 

Josiah  Brush 

a 

Alpheus  Hatheway                     ' 

Leonard  Robinson 

it 

Solomon  Walbridge 

Daniel  Biddlecome 

11 

Ebenezer  Brackett                     ' 

Levy  Hatheway 

11 

Jehiel  Smith                                ' 

Abram  Hatheway 

it 

Asa  Branch                                 * 

Reuben  Colvin 

" 

Phineas  Wright                          ' 

Eliphalet  Stickney 

11 

John  Smith                                 ' 

Daniel  Rude  (Rood?) 

" 

Jesse  Belknap                             ' 

Benjamine  Holmes 

" 

Silvanus  Brown                           * 

James  Marivater 

11 

John  Forbes                                ' 

Mr.  Alger 

it 

Stephen  Williams 

Aminie  Fuller 

it 

William  Post                              ■ 

Jonah  Brewster 

it 

David  Safford 

George  Dale 

it 

Jared  Post                                  ' 

John  Marble 

n 

Jeremiah  Bingham 

Ephraim  Marble 

it 

Samuel  Slocum 

Aaron  Hubbell 

ti 

Josiah  Hurd 

Samuel  Safford,  Jr. 

tt 

Ezekiel  Brewster                        ' 

Aaron  Smith 

tt 

Solomon  Leason 

Ephraim  Smith 

11 

Thomas  Selden                           ' 

Samuel  Henry 

a 

John  Rigney 

Edward  Henderson 

tt 

Elisha  Smith                              * 

Jonathan  Haynes 

tt 

Solomon  Safford                         ' 

Daniel  Warner 

tt 

Joseph  Roe                                 ' 

Archelans  Tupper 

tt 

William  Terrill                            * 

1  Rev.  Isaac  Jennings's  Memoriak  of  a  Century ■,  p.  201,  1869. 


Notes 


547 


Noah  Beach 
Simeon  Sears 
David  Robinson 


Soldier 


Joseph  Safford 
Isaac  Webster 


Soldier 


XXI 

[Pages  323,  337] 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  WEST  BENNINGTON  COMPANY,  CONTAIN- 
ING 78  NAMES,  UNDER  THE  COMMAND  OF  CAPT.  ELIJAH 
DEWEY,  AUG.  16,  17771 


Elijah  Dewey- 

Capt. 

Ezekial  Smith 

Soldier 

Joseph  Rudd 

Lieut. 

Christopher  Cluff 

" 

Thomas  Jewett 

Lieut. 

Jonathan  Parsons 

<« 

Nathaniel  Fillmore* 

Ensign 

Amos  Page 

tt 

Daniel  Harmon 

Sergt. 

Samuel  Rood 

tt 

Thomas  Hayner 

Soldier 

Daniel  Kingsley 

tt 

Jedidiah  Merrill 

tt 

Joseph  Wickwire 

tt 

Jonathan  Griswold 

ti 

Nathan  Clark,  Jr. 

tt 

Seth  Partee 

" 

John  Smith 

n 

Aaron  Hayner 

n 

Libbens  Armstrong 

a 

Jonathan  Hayner,  Jr. 

" 

Hezekiah  Armstrong 

a 

Ezekiel  Harmon 

" 

Hopestill  Armstrong 

it 

Daniel  Towslee 

a 

John  Kingsley 

a 

Silas  Harmon 

11 

Eleazer  Hawks 

a 

Caleb  Harmon 

ti 

Samuel  Tubbs 

" 

Joshua  Harmon 

ti 

John  Rudd 

a 

Abner  Marble 

a 

Elijah  Story 

a 

John  Partee 

a 

Benajah  Story 

n 

Joseph  Robinson 

tt 

Nathaniel  Holmes 

n 

John  Barnham,  Jr.  3 

a 

Elanathan  Hubbell 

tt 

Shadrack  Harris 

" 

Griffin  Briggs 

tt 

Thomas  Henderson 

a 

Elijah  Higgins 

a 

Roger  Ladd 

a 

Ithamar  Hibbard* 

Chaplain 

George  Christie 

n 

Cyrus  Clark 

Soldier 

1  Miss  Gertrude  Hubbell,  a  great  granddaughter  of  Capt.  Elijah  Dewey,  after 
a  research  among  family  documents  of  Revolutionary  days,  discovered  the 
muster  roll  of  the  West  Bennington  Company  of  1777.  It  was  first  published 
in  the  Bennington  Reformer,  March  21,  1890,  and  subsequently  issued  in 
Melvin  H.  Robinson's  Bennington  Souvenir  in  1904. 

2  Grandsire  of  President  Millard  Fillmore. 

3  Burnham  (?) 

4  Pastor  of  First  Strict-Separatist  Congregational  Church  of  Bennington, 
Hibbard  Lot,  on  western  slope  of  Mt.  Anthony,  and  subsequently  the  founder 
of  the  First  Church  of  Hubbard  ton.  Vt. 


548 


The  Hoosac  Valley 


Joshua  Carpenter 
Benajah  Hurlburt 
Jesse  Field 
Amos  Herrick 
Simeon  Harmon 
Matthew  Clark 
Shadrack  Norton 
Stephen  Cleveland 
Theophilus  Clark 
John  Stewart 
Gains  Harmon 
Nathaniel  Kingsley 
Job  Green 
William  Aglesworth 
Philemon  Wood 


Soldier  Samuel  Cutler 

Lemuel  Geers 
"  Jacob  Story 

Joseph  Tinney 
"  Edward  Corbin 

Oliver  Rice 
"  Christopher  Brackett 

"  Robert  Blair 

David  Powers 

Phineas  Still 
"  Roswell  Moseley1 

"  Joseph  Willoughby1 

Samuel  Hunt1 

Daniel  Clark 

Elishu  Clark 


Soldier 


The  two  muster  rolls  of  the  companies  under  Captains  Robinson  and  Dewey 
have  never  been  published  together  before  this  date. 

XXII 


[Pages  342,  346] 

THE  FAMOUS  RUDD  LETTER2 

Bennington  August  the  26  ad  1777 
Honoured  father  after  my  Duty  I  take  this  opertunity  to  Rite  you  Hoping 
these  lines  will  find  you  well  as  through  the  goodnes  of  god  they  leave  me  and 
my  family  we  meat  a  great  Deal  of  trouble  on  the  16  instant  my  self  and 
Brother  John  was  preserved  through  a  very  hot  battel  we  kild  and  took  accord- 
ing to  the  best  account  we  can  git  about  one  thousand  of  the  Enemy  our  loss 
was  about  thirty  or  forty  we  marcht  Rite  against  there  brest  work  with  our 
Small  armes  where  they  fired  with  there  field  peases  when  they  fired  upon  us 
every  half  a  minit  yet  they  never  tought  a  man  with  them  we  drove  them  out 
of  there  brest  work  and  took  there  field  peases  and  presed  and  kild  great  num- 
bers of  them  we  lost  four  or  five  of  my  Neighbors  twoSniders  and  twoHornbeck 
the  bigger  part  of  Dutch  Hosack  was  in  the  battel  against  us  they  went  to  the 
Reglers  a  Day  or  two  before  the  fight  Samuel  Anderson  a  Captain  amonst  the 
Reglers  and  was  in  the  battel  against  us  while  I  was  gon  my  wife  and  children 
went  of  and  got  Down  to  Williamstown  after  I  got  home  I  went  after  them  and 
found  them  to  landlord  Simons  I  have  got  them  home  again  my  wife  was  very 

1  First  names  supplied  from  pay-roll  of  Capt.  Dewey's  Company  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  1776.      Vt.  Hist.  Mag.  i.,  p.  153. 

2  Perry,  Williamstown  and  Williams  College,  pp.  132-133. 


Notes  549 


much  wored  out  she  had  four  children  with  her  and  Selinday  was  forst  to  Run 
on  foot  we  soon  Expect  the  Enemy  will  come  upon  us  again  and  what  I  shall 
Dew  with  my  family  I  know  not  I  would  inform  you  that  I  Received  your 
letter  dated  August  18  which  you  tel  me  you  was  well  which  I  am  glad  to  hear 
of  it  I  want  to  com  and  see  you  very  much  but  when  I  shall  I  no  not  if  the 
enemy  don't  com  upon  us  again  this  fall  I  intend  to  com  down  and  see  you  we 
remember  our  love  to  all  brothers  and  sisters  Respects  to  all  inquiring  friend 
so  no  more  at  present  but  I  remain  your  Dutyful  son  until  Death 

Joseph  Rudd. 

John  Remembers  his  Duty  to  you  And  has  laid  out  all  your  Money  and 
Bought  About  40  acres  of  land  with  a  log  hous  and  has  a  dead  of  it  Joining  the 
seventeen  acres  Cleared  the  Rest  is  wild  land  I  have  enclosed  Forty  shilling 
upon  the  Note     If  you  have  the  Rest  you  May  send  it  if  you  Pleas 

(Superscribed) 
Mr  To 

Joseph  Rudd 
att 

Norwich. 


INDEX 


Abantzene,  61 

Abbott,  Benjamin,  232;  Capt.  Joel, 
237,  332,  334;  Col.  Lyman  F.,  464; 
Timothy,  287 

Abenakis  Democracy,  see  Wappa- 
nachki  and  Algonquin  Race,  22,  32, 
5°,  93;  traditions,  iii,  20;  map,  21 ; 
cantons,  20,  511;  totemic  crests 
and  peace  symbols,  94;  castles,  27; 
great  sachems  or  kings,  18;  sa- 
chems, chieftains,  and  petty-saga- 
mores, 29;  villages,  planting- 
grounds  and  burial-fields,  28;  weap- 
ons, 30;  customs,  54;  Christian 
missions,  44;  fugitives  during  King 
Philip's  War,  52;  Father  Rale's 
dictionary,  76;  origin  of  Indian 
names,  511-522 

Abenaquis,  27,  31,  34,  52,  55,  88,  98, 

155 

Abercrombie,  Gen.,  364 

Acker,  Samuel,  258 

Ackland,  Maj.,  360 

Adams,  Mass.,  184,  186,  329,  382, 
393,  426,  427,  442,  444,  47o,  494, 
504,  506;  first  survey,  67,  69;  sec- 
ond survey,  162;  incorporation, 
193,  194;  South  Village,  192;  North 
Village,  192;  First  Congregational 
Church,  190,  214;  Quaker  Church, 
473,  474,  496;  progressive  era,  200; 
First  Baptist  Church,  474;  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  474;  Second 
Congregational  Church,  185,  194; 
Universalist  Church,  474;  District 
Schools,  197;  Roman  Catholic 
Parish:  Irish,  French,  and  Polish 
Churches,  474;  mill-centre,  437; 
manufactures,  461 ;  Memorial  Lib- 
rary, 474,  475 

Adams  Brothers,  462;  Enos,  464; 
George,  416,  417;  Pres.  John, 
387;  John  Quincy,  399;  Dr. 
Samuel,  Arlington,  Vt.,  290;  Sam- 
uel, Boston,  Mass.,  193,  290,  291, 
293 


Adelphic  Union,  Williams  Coll.,  386, 
389, 390 

Adirondack  Mountains,  22;  sub- 
canton  of  Abenakis  Democracy, 
25,  26 

Adventist  Church,  Little  Hoosac 
Valley,  N.  Y.,  245,  246 

^Eolus,  Mount,  see  Dorset  Moun- 
tain, 4,  28,  476;  platform  rock  and 
cave,  496;  origin  of  name,  496 

Aepjen,  Great  Sachem  or  King, 
Abenakis  Democracy,  see  Soqui 
Race,  iii,  16,  25,  28,  29,  32,  48,  53, 
120;  Hudson's  Half- Moon  wel- 
comed, 16;  French  Walloons' 
treaty,  59;  removal  of  Schodac 
Castle  to  Housatonac  Valley,  47, 
55;  Aepjen's  (Bear's)  Island  deeded 
to  Christians,  66;  origin  of  name 
Schodac,  22 

Africa,  missions,  409,  410 

Agawam  hunting-grounds,  Westfield 
Valley,  Mass.,  see  Grey-Lock's 
canton,  46 

Aiken,  Benjamin  and  Edmund,  255; 
Edward,  437,  441 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty,  148;  hot 
springs,  471 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  107,  112,  120,  147,382, 
415,  432,  434,  436,  451,  502;  court- 
house, 75,  86;  capitol,  23;  county, 
67,  96;  subdivided  into  military 
districts,  256;  sheriff's  riot  at  West- 
minster, Vt.,  291;  County  Clerk's 
office,  37,  65;  forts,  75;  old  roads, 
152;  traders,  77;  gentlemen,  69,  71, 
83,  268;  First  Dutch  Church,  252, 
292;  jail,  273;  Court  of  Ejectment 
of  Benningtonians,  278,  281,  370; 
defeat  of  Albanians,  282,  286;  In- 
dian Conferences,  84,  90,  93 ;  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  and  Councils  of 
War,  258,  291;  Britishers  plan  to 
seize,  326;  defences,  352;  Legisla- 
tive Act  against  slavery,  264; 
Assembly,  124 


551 


552 


Index 


Alberta's  Range,  401,  504 
Albertzen,  Hendrick,  no 
Aldrich,  John,  132,  138,  141,  142 
Alexander,  King,  331 
Algiers,  219,  228;  War  of,  227 
Algonquin    Race,    22,    25,    511-513; 
maps  of  cantons  of,  21,  23;  Algon- 
quins,  iii,  25,   26,  34,  74;  origin  of 
name,  25,  511-513 
Allefonsce,  Jean,  14,  477,  495 
Allen,  Sir  Thomas,  368;  Samuel,  1st, 
Samuel,  2d,  Thomas  and  John,  368 
Allen,   Joseph,    235,    368;    marriage, 
369;   homestead,  369;   removal  to 
Cornwall,  Ct.;  children,  369 
Allen,  Col.  Ethan,  173,  183,  258,  262, 
294,  295,  296,  328,  374,  488;  birth- 
place, 369;    education    and  relig- 
ion, 370,  371,  372;  love  of  liberty, 
368;  marriage,  370;  372;  defender 
of  the  Benningtonian  settlers  at  the 
Albany     Ejectment     trials,     370; 
arrival   at   Bennington,    Vt.,   281; 
challenged  by  John  Tabor  Kemp, 
282;  elected  Colonel  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys  militia,  255,  284; 
capture  of  Munroe's  bandits,  287; 
routed  Col.  Reid's  Scotch  colony, 
288;  designated  the  "Ringleader  of 
Bennington  Mob,"  308;  proclama- 
tions,   285,    286,    288,    289,    290; 
promissory  note,  373;  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, 374;  homestead,  Sunder- 
land, Vt.,  370;  Fort  Ticonderoga 
expedition,   298,   301;   Address   to 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  302,  303; 
demand  of  surrender  of  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga, 303;  capture  of  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga,   305,    306;    plan    to    seize 
Montreal,  Canada,  307;  captured, 
by  British,  308;  Narrative  of  Cap- 
tivity in  English  jails,  303,  308,  310, 
370,  37i;  return  to  America,  371; 
visit  to  Washington's  camp,  371; 
rank  of    lieut.-colonel    and  maj.- 
general  of  Vermont    State  militia, 
372,  373;   Oracle  of  Reason,  pub- 
lished, 371,  372,  413;  treasonable 
letter  of  British  officers,  374;  sec- 
ond marriage,   375;   cottage    and 
farm,    Burlington,  Vt.,  375,  376; 
children,  370,  373,  375,  376;  death, 
376;  heroic  statues,  279,  379 
Allen,  Ethan  A.,  376 
Allen,  Gen.  Ira,  310,  368;  arrival  at 


Bennington,  Vt.,  225,  288;  secre- 
tary of  Bennington  Council  of 
Safety,  321,  322;  originator  of 
sequestration  of  Tory  property, 
323;  founder  of  Green  Mountain 
Republic, 376, 377, 379;  Sunderland, 
Vt.,  homestead,  376;  diplomatist 
of  Revolutionary  period,  373,  374, 
375,  376;  treasurer  and  surveyor- 
general  of  Republic  of  Vermont, 
373;  major-general  of  militia,  377; 
sojourn  in  England  and  France, 
378,  379;  case  before  King's  Bench, 
Eng.,  378;  ejectment  from  Champ- 
lain  Valley  estates,  379;  address 
to  Green  Mountain  Boys,  379; 
death  and  unknown  grave,  377 
Allen,  Charles  B.,  206,  224,  225,  346; 
Col.  Ebenezer,  376,  413;  Samuel, 
Sr.,  140;  children,  140,  i43;Heman, 
295,  296;  Levi,  295,  373,  374;  John, 
437;  Philip,  262;  Zebulon,  267; 
Francis  Olcott,  379;  Rev.  Thomas, 
199,  328,  341,  348,  368,  447»  Pitts- 
field  parishioners,  192;  march  to 
Gen.  Stark's  Walloomsac  camp, 
337,  338,  343 
Allen  Brook,  441 
All  Saints  Episcopal  Chapel,  Hoosac, 

N.  Y.,  477,  478 
Alpine  Club  of  Williamstown,  Mass., 

organization,  502,  503,  504,  506 
American  Advocate,  399,  400,  424 
American   Bible    Society    and    Bible 

House,  423 
American  Colonization  Society,  422 
American  Foreign  Missions,  409 
American  Revolution,  8,  9,  375,  410, 

413,  476 

American  Traveller,  403 
Amherst,  Gen.  Jeffrey,  233 
Amherst,  Mass.,  187,  211,  392,  393, 

396,  405,  496 
Amsdel,  Widow,  140 
Amsterdam,  Holland,  19,  59 
Anderson,  Rufus,  425;  Capt.  Samuel, 

118,240,337 
Andover  Theological  Seminary,  379, 

420,  423 
Andratoroct,  24 
Andries,  Long,  23,  118 
Andros,    Sir   Edmund,   viii,   45,    47, 

49,  50,  52,  53,  55,  96 
Anglo-Americans,  161 
Anthony,     David,     196,     474,     475; 


Index 


553 


Anthony,  David — Continued 

Daniel  Anthony,   197,   474;  Susan 
B.  Anthony,  197,  444,  474,  475 

Anthony,  Mount,  4,  7,  16,  331,  371, 
476,  483,  484;  cave,  495,  496;  482, 
493;  Pass  and  Road,  280,  433;  log- 
meeting-house,  215;  proposed  park, 
380,  493 

Antioch,  409,  510 

"Anti-Rent  War,"  238,  246 

"Anti-Slavery"  Society,  424 

Appalachian  Mountain  Club,  502; 
Appalachia,  502,  503 

Appleton's  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  376 

Aqua-Machukes,  22 

Aqua-Vitae,  18 

Archerlv,  Nathaniel,  232 

"Arch  of  Truth,"  507 

Arlington,  Vt.,  28,  29,  286,  288,  372 

Arminius,  victory  of,  145 

Arminianism,  176,  418 

Armstrong,  Dr.  Asher,  249;  Dr. 
Prosper,  249;  Jonathan,  342;  Major 
Armstrong,  Battle  of  Saratoga,  361 

Arne,  Mr.,  94 

Arnold,  William,  187,  188;  Gov. 
Benedict,  188,  460 

Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict,  299,  545;  ride 
from  Cambridge  to  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  and  thence  to  Castleton,  Vt., 
300,  301;  bill  of  expenses  to  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  300,  544,  545;  contest 
with  Col.  Ethan  Allen,  304;  vol- 
unteers, 294,  302;  command  of 
Crown  Point,  306;  march  to  Que- 
bec, 180;  command  of  Skenesboro 
Navy-yard,  314;  hero  of  the  bat- 
tles of  Old  Saratoga,  354,  355,  350, 
357,  358,  360,  361 

Arnold,  John,  William,  and  Benedict, 
188;  Harvey  and  John  F.,  460 

Arthur,  Rev.  William,  480;  Gen. 
Chester  A.,  480 

Ashawagh,  84;  Lake  and  Park,  470; 
Bogs,  493 

Ashawagh  sac  River,  28,  68,  69,  127, 
184,  200,  442,  444,  462;  junction, 
150;  mill-power  of,  441;  valley, 
470;  meadow,  184,  186;  roads  and 
bridges,  185,  186,  448 

Ash  Grove,  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  261,  262 

Ashland,  Va.,  Battle  of,  427 

Ashley,  Rev.  Jonathan,  151,  414;  Col. 
John,  154,  273,  274,  414 


Ashton,  Samuel,  258;    Thomas   and 

James,  261 
Atkinson,    Francis,    248;    Theodore, 

205,  210 
Atwood,  Samuel,  213 
Auburn,  Mass.,  393 
Augustian   Fathers,  Hoosac,    N.  Y., 

426,  478 
Avery,  Rev.  David,  413;  John,  390, 

492;  Oliver,  167 
Avers,    Capt.    Smith,    153;   Thomas, 

153,  4i6 
Aylesworth,  Freelove,  244 


B 


Babbitt,  Capt.  Amariah,  327 
Babcock,     Adam,     294,     295,     296: 

"Honest"  John,  248;  Joshua,  2  = 
Babcock,  Lake,  Grafton,  N.  Y.,    ic, 

248,  481 
Bacon,  Ezekiel,  386;  John,  382,  383; 

Pennel,  255 
Bacon  Park,  Greylock  Reservation, 

Mass.,    506;    Bacon    Brook,    503; 

Bacon  poor-house,  503 
Bacheldor,  Rev.  John  M.,  210 
Bachtamo,  32 
Bachus,  Hans  and  Petrus,  119,  233; 

William,  263 
Bain  Patent,  261 
Bailey,    Algernon    Sidney,    419;    Dr. 

Charles,  471;  John  Stanton,  235 
Baker,  Elisha,  Remember,  and  Mary, 

262,    369;    Elisha,    173,    198,    262, 

369,     435;     Baker     Bridge,     369; 

grave    and    epitaph,     183;    Capt. 

Remember,  2d,  173,  183,  286,  288, 

369;  captured  by  John  Munroe's 

bandits,  286;  rescued,  287;  death, 

307;      powder-horn,     307;     Capt. 

Charles,  191 
Balcarre,  Earl  of,  360,  361 
Bald  Mountain,  472,  479,  500,  501 
Baldwin,    Loami,    451;    William    B. 

470;  Reuben,  244 
Ball,  Judge  Levi  Chandler,  236,  249, 

393,  454,  480;  Annals  of  Hoosac, 

N.  Y.,  438,  494 
Ball  Seminary,  Hoosac  Falls,  N.  Y.# 

480;  High  School,  480 
Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y.,  102 
Ballou  Farm,  190 
Bancroft,  George,  1,  75,  345 


554 


Index 


Bangor,  Goldsboro,  256;  Maine 
Woods,  423 

Banker,  Garret,  65;  John,  263; 
Joshua,  248;  Amos  Bryan,  106 

Bannister,  Ridley,  399 

Barber,  Daniel,  461;  Joseph,  279 

Barbour,  Simeon,  353 

Barclay,  Rev.  Thomas,  93 

Bardwell,  Mehitable,  419 

Barker,  Stephen,  458,  468 

Barnhart,  Henry,  117,  122,  238 

Barnes,  Giles,  199;  Stage  Office,  448 

Barnard,  Ensign  Tallah,  169,  170; 
Tavern,  300 

Barnet,  Benjamin,  245;  Barnet's 
Place,  Old  Schaghticoke,  86,  346 

"Bars  Fight,"  Old  Deerfield,  Mass., 
140,  143 

Barre,  Col.,  276 

Barrington,  Mass.,  152 

Bascom,  Dr.  John,  405,  406,  408, 
503;  424,  427,  471,  472;  commis- 
sioner of  Greylock  Park  Reserva- 
tion, 497,  505,  508;  death,  505 

Bascom,  Lake,  6,  496;  natural  dam, 
135;  Meadow,  70;  Mount,  500,  501, 
506 

Bass,  Abraham,  210 

Bassett,  Ephraim,  202,  210 

Batchelder,  Albert  S.,  310 

Bates,  Willard,  225 

Batten  Kill,  1,  28,  29,  66,  117,  343, 
352,  3535  patents,  37;  Gen.  Bur- 
goyne's  encampment,  330;  origin 
of  name,  66 

Baum,  Lieut.-Col.  Frederick, 223, 326, 
33°,  341,  3541  valor  of  Hessian 
troops,  330,  341;  letter  to  Gen. 
Burgoyne,  332,  334,  335;  encamp- 
ments, 332,  335,  336;  redoubts,  334, 
335,  336,  34o;  battle,  340,  341; 
cannon,  342,  347 ;  prisoners,  wound- 
ed and  dead,  342,  345,  346;  death 
and  unknown  grave,  334,  345,  346; 
sword  and  camp-kettle,  219,  342 

Beach,  Gershorm,  296 

Bear  Island,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  66 

Bear  Warriors  of  Abenakis  Democ- 
racy, see  Soqui  Race,  15,  20 

Beardsley,  Levi  and  Obadiah,  236 

Beatty,  Mary,  196 

Beaubassin,  Sieur,  133,  137 

Beauvais,  Lieut.,  80 

Beaver  Print  Works,  460 

Bebee,  Lucy  Allen,  370 


Becancour  Village,  47,  104,  130,  133 

"Beech-Seal  Court,"  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, 241,  279 

Beecher,  Rev.  Henry  Ward,  183 

"Bee  Hill,"  492,  494 

Beeman,  Nathan,  298,  302 

Becker,  John  P.,  364 

Beckley  Iron  Furnace,  443,  444 

Belcher,  Gov.  Jonathan,  69,  120; 
ordered  first  survey  of  English 
Hoosac  towns,  79;  Mount  Belcher, 
70,  163 

Bellamont,  Lord  (Richard  Coote), 
73,  74,  76 

Bellows'-Pipe  hunting-grounds,  127, 
484,  487,  496,  499 

Beman,  Rev.  Mr.,  424 

Bemis  Fothem,  tavern,  353,  356; 
Bemis  Heights,  N.  Y.,  325,  343, 
352,  353,  358 

Benedict,  Erastus,  397 ;  George  Gren- 
ville,  Report  on  Recovery  of  Fay's 
Records  of  Councils  of  Safety,  310; 
Benedict's  Hist,  of  Baptist  Churches, 
261;  Benedict's  Hist,  of  Vermont 
in  Civil  War,  428;  Benedict's 
Cotton-mill,  446 

Benton  and  Fuller,  Paper-Mill,  464 

Bentley,  Col.,  235;  Caleb,  235 

Bennett,  Francis,  236;  Asa,  317 

Bennington,  Vt.,  120,  121,  183,  185, 

205,  227,  271,  286,  330,  384,  399, 
427,  432,  439,  444,  445,  446,  449, 
451,  464,  471;  Centre,  293,  296, 
37*1  433;  Hill,  204,  211;  East 
Bennington  Village,  219,  476; 
Falls,  464;  Charter,  205,  206,  209; 
survey,  205,  206,  208;  proprietors, 

206,  212,  213;  organization,  213; 
Congregational  Church,  214,  215, 
216,  324,  345,  412,  413,  419;  great 
revival,  419;  Second  Congrega- 
tional Church,  282;  first  burial- 
field,  216;  historic  epitaphs,  229; 
Sons  of  Freedom,  212;  militia,  282, 
306;  Court  House,  283;  newspapers, 
The  Vermont  Gazette,  226,  372; 
The  Bennington  Banner,  226,  355; 
mill-centre,  437;  manufactures, 
462;  flax-seed  market,  444;  post- 
office  controversy,  476;  incorpora- 
tion of  East  Binnington  Village, 
476;  churches,  476;  schools  and 
academies,  226,  478;  railroads, 
457,  458 


Index 


555 


Bennington  Battle,  iii,  I,  78,  182, 
183,  212,  218,  223,  234,  235,  241, 
279,  295,  331,  351,  356,311,447; 
opening  and  closing  skirmishes, 
334;  battlefield  of  the  Walloomsac 
Valley,  N.  Y.  and  Vt.,  274,  336, 
339,  343,  346;  trophies,  346;  con- 
temporaries' designation  of  "Ben- 
nington Battle"  and  centennial 
celebrations,  348;  Battle  Monu- 
ment, 204,  207,  218,  349,  372,  350, 
476 

Bennington  County,  Vt.,  Double 
Shire  System,  476;  Court  Houses, 
476;  Clerk's  Office,  413 

"Bennington  Mob,"  see  Col.  Ethan 
Allen  and  Captains,  286 

Benningtonians'  Petition  to  Gov. 
Tryon, 287 

Benson,  Egbert,  70 

Berkshire  Co.,  Mass.,  settlers,  67; 
incorporation  and  extent,  171, 
185,  486,  500;  Williams  College 
Removal  Case,  393,  394;  militia, 
122,  348;  History,  176 

Berkshire,  Cotton-mills,  458,  461, 
462;  Glass-works,  442;  Historical 
Society,  475 ;  Sanatorium,  473 

Berlin,  N.  Y.,  7,  234,  235,  438,  481; 
organization  of  town,  240;  Pass,  10 

Berlin  Bible  Society,  423 

Bernard,  Gov.  Francis,  171,  442 

Best,  Jacob,  119,231,233 

Beschefer,  Father,  36 

Bethlehem,  Pa.,  98 

Beverly,  William,  365,  366 

Beverwyck,  Rensselaerwyck  Manor, 
N.Y.,62 

"Big  Bethel,"  Battle  of,  428 

"Big-Eddy,"  Hart's  Falls,  438,  440, 
441,   468,  469 

Biglow,  Mr.,  236 

Billings,  Maj.  Samuel,  224,  229; 
"  Josh  Billings, "  see  Henry  Shaw, 
442 

"Black  Hawk,"  49,  98,  498,  499 

Black  Tavern,  198,  199,201,443,  445 

"Black  Tom,"  301,  302 

Blackington,  Peter,  458;  Sandford, 
445,  458;  mansion,  473;  William, 
458 

Blackington,  Mass.,  5,  163,  187 

Blake,  John,  366 

Blakely,  Justus,  190;  Capt.  Blakely, 
191 


Blair,  Col.  Absalom,  256,  387;  Austin, 
182;  Henry,  182;  William,  182,  387 

Blanchard,  Col.  Joshua,  155 

Bleecker,  Jan  Jansen,  66;  Capt.  John 
J-,  9°,  97,  255;  company  of  "Min- 
ute Men,"  286;  wife,  Ann  Eliza, 
Memoirs,  258;  John,  74;  John  R., 
282 

Bliss,  Constant,  140 

Block,  Capt,  Adriaen,  23,  58 

Block  Tavern,  185 

Blommaert,  Samuel,  60 

Bloodville,  N.  Y.,  107 

Bloody  Pond,  158 

Bly,  George,  458,  460 

Boght  (Manor)  Avenue,  Rensselaer- 
wyck Manor,  N.  Y.,  64 

Bolton,  N.  Y.,  287 

Bond,  Oliver,  227 

Bonesteel,  Reuben,  235 

Boniface,  Father,  37,  54 

Booth,  Rev.  William  T.,  406 

Border  Forts,  viii,  58,  71,  78,  80 

Borie  (Bovie)  Rykert,  115 

Boschloopers  (forest-runners),  62 

Boston,  Mass.,  163,  403,  438,  444, 
45  if  4735  General  Court,  146; 
fur-traders  and  goods,  77 

Boston  Committee  of  War,  294; 
addressed  by  Albanians,  291; 
letter  to  Gen.  Stark,  374 

Bosworth,  Capt.  Nathaniel,  250 

Botta,  Carlos,  20 

Bottom  and  Torrance,  Collar-factory, 
464 

Boulders,  4,  7 

Boundary  controversies,  62 

Bout,  William,  ill 

Bouwensen,  Tymen,  31  V»^^ 

'Bovie,    John,    244;    Nicholas,    121;    j 

Petrus,  121,  231,241  ~J 

Bnwen,  Samuel,  117,  260;  Bowen^ 
Corners,  474 

Braddock,  Gen.,  152,  153,  156 

Bradford,  Gov.,  59;  Bradford,  Mass., 
420;  Edward  W.,  Henry,  and 
William  H.,  464 

Braintree,  Mass.,  221,  410 

Braman,  Paul,  235 

Brandon,  Vt.,  1,  296 

Brandow,  Rev.  John  Henry,  363 

Brandt,  King,  93,  94,  96 

Bratt,  Barnardus,  121,  130,  446; 
manor,  118,  119;  mansion,  119,233, 
238;  mills,  118;  barns,  240;  "God's 


556 


Index 


Bratt,  Barnardus — Continued 

Acre,"  240;  children,  238;  Barent 
Albertse,  88,  115;  Daniel,  115; 
Daniel  B.,  238,  244;  Elizabeth, 
238;  Garret  Tunisson,  238;  Henry 
238;  Johannes,  238;  Maria,  238 

Brattleboro,  Vt.,  181,  330,  443 

Bray  ton,  Thomas  A.,  458;  William 
E.,  451,  458;  Print  Cloth-mill,  445 

Braytonville  Cotton-mills,  458 

Breakenridge,  Lieut.  James,  see 
Michael  Leonard  Place,  213,  219, 
278;  King's  Writ  of  Ejectment 
served  on,  282,  285;  Fort  Breaken- 
ridge, 282;  Bennington  delegate  to 
King  of  England,  288;  John,  219 

Breccia  Obelisk,  483 

Breese,  Henry,  red  store,  233;  Breese 
Neighborhood,  see  Rensselaers' 
Mills  and  Petersburgh,  N.  Y.,  233; 
church  creeds  of,  235 

Brewster,  Ezekiel,  278,  287 

Brewster's  Manor-house,  Scrooby, 
Eng.,  59,  205 

Breyman,  Col.,  330,  338,  358;  march 
to  Bennington  battlefield,  343; 
delay  at  St.  Croix  Bridge,  343; 
close  of  battle,  344;  cannon  cap- 
tured, 344;  loss  of  men,  343; 
fatally  wounded  at  Battle  of  Sara- 
toga, 361,  362 

Brick  Cotton-mill,  440,  441 

Bridgeman,  Jonathan,  132,  138 

Bridges,  Benjamin,  Place,  212;  Jona- 
than, 178 

"Bright,  Eustace,"  403 

Briggs,  Amos,  454,  468;  Briggs'  Bros., 
"Linwood  Mills,"  North  Adams, 
458;  Ebenezer  N.,  476;  Gov.  George 
N.,  425,  466;  William,  466 

Bristol,  Eng.,  204 

Brimmer,  Johannes  George,  119,  123, 
233;  sons  of,  123;  Massacre  of 
Jeremiah,  123,  124;  Godfrey,  234, 
235;  Jonathan,  123 

Brimmer,  Alvin,  farm,  231;  Daniel, 
124,  230;  Green  Brimmer  farm, 
235;  Henry  J.,  124 

Brinsmade,  Rev.  Daniel,  370 

Brisbin,  James,  354 

British  Bible  Society,  see  Missions,  423 

British  Constitution,  forms  of  Colo- 
nial charter  governments,  60 

British  surrender  at  Battle  of 
Saratoga,  352 


Broad  Brook  Glen,  Williamstown, 
Mass.,  171,  177,  429 

Brockhalls,  Capt.,  48 

Brodt  (Bratt),  Albertus  and  Daniel, 
115 

"Brom  and  Bet"  Case  of  Slavery, 
414 

Bronck,  Jonas,  widow,  1 1 1 

"Brother  Corlaer, "  see  Van  Cor- 
laer  or  Curler,  46,  53,  74,  76 

Brougham,  Lord,  399 

Brown's  Bible,  see  Brownists  or 
Separatists,  182 

Brown,  Mrs.  C.  W.,  231;  Capt. 
Daniel,  327;  David,  242;  Elisha, 
200,  443;  Ephraim,  120;  George, 
440,  445;  Henry  Clinton,  386; 
Dr.  Henry,  244,  246;  Col.  John, 
293,  294,  295,  296,  328;  Levi  L., 
460,  462;  Nicholas,  117;  Samuel, 
317;  Stephen  B.,  460;  Sylvanus, 
286;  Thomas,  237;  Dr.  William  F., 

473 
Brownell,     Simeon,     260;    Thomas, 

231 
Browning,  David,  263 
Brownists,  see  Separatists,  59,  205 
Brownson,  Rev.  Amos,  195,  198,  200; 
Richard,   370;    Mary,   370;   Lieut. 
Eli,  327,  370 
Bruce,  Peter,  50;  Wallace,  348,  350 
Brunswick,  N.  Y.,  7,   10;  Colony  of 

German  Lutherans,  230 
Brush,  Creon,  the  Tory,  375;  Brush 
Dam,  470;  Col.  Nathaniel,  224; 
Vermont  Volunteers  of,  323,  337 
Bryan,  David,  263;  District,  264 
Bryant,  Dr.  Peter,  390;  William 
Cullen,  266,  389,  390,  496;  enters 
Sophomore  Class  at  Williams,  385 ; 
influence  on  literary  career,  492; 
honorable  dismission  from  Wil- 
liams, 390;  fiftieth  class  reunion 
and  poem,  405,  406;  elected  presi- 
dent of  Williams  College  Alunni 
Association  (1869),  406;  Auto- 
biography, 389;  death,  392;  poems: 
Earth,  4;  An  Indian  at  the  Buricl- 
Place  of  his  Fathers,  40,  42,  51,  ic8, 
484;  The  Battle- Field,  149,  159; 
The  Disinterred  Warrior,  58;  Green 
River,  162,  392,  492;  The  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  297 ;  A  nacreon's  Ode 
to  Spring,  390;  Descriptio  Gulid- 
mopolis,  184,  392,  492,  510;  Death 


Index 


557 


Bryant — Continued 

to  Slavery,  431;  "7  Cannot  For- 
get with  what  Fervid  Devotion" 
483 ;  Legends  of  the  Delawares,  484, 
509;  Thanatopsis,  first  draft,  488, 
489,  490,  492,  493;  Inscription  for 
the  Entrance  to  a  Wood,  492 ;  Earth, 
and  Hymn  to  Death,  first  drafts, 
493;  The  Poet,  510 

Bruyas,  Father,  54 

Buchanan,  Mrs.  Fanny,  375 

Buck's-neck,  112,  470 

Buel,  Hiram,  236,  264 

Bull,  Isaac,  232,  236 

"Bull's  Head,"  farm,  454 

"  Bully  Boys  of  Helderberg, "  101,  115 

"Bunch  of  Grape"  Tavern,  191 

Bunker  Hill,  Battle  of,  291,  322 

Bur  bank,  Daniel,  174 

Burck,  John,  441 

Burdict,  John,  445 

Burgess,  Prof.  Ebenezer,  422 

Burgoyne,  Gen.  John,  advance  of 
army  from  Canada,  218,  258; 
River  Boquet  Camp,  324;  head- 
quarters at  Tory  Skene's  Manor  of 
Whithall,  325;  march  to  Fort 
Edward,  325,  326;  proclamation 
to  American  patriots,  326,  327; 
council  of  war,  330;  verbal  or- 
ders to  Col.  Baum,  330,  339; 
clipping  of  both  right  and  left 
detached  wings  of  British  Army, 
356;  invasion  of  Old  Saratoga 
Valley,  353;  Batten  Kill  Camp, 
357;  march  and  search  for  Gen. 
Gates's  American  Camp  on  Bemis 
Heights,  356;  headquarters  at 
Dovegat  House,  357;  Encamp- 
ment on  Sword  Farm,  357;  Battle 
of  September  19,  1777,  357,  358; 
council  of  war,  359;  Great  Re- 
doubt, 359;  second  battle  delayed, 
358>  359;  battle  of  October  7,  1777, 
defeat,  361;  dead,  wounded,  and 
prisoners,  361;  retreat  to  Dove- 
gat House,  362;  feast  at  Gen. 
Schuyler's  Mansion,  362 ;  character, 

.  362 ;  entrapped  on  Heights  of 
Saratoga,  and  siege,  362;  capitu- 
lation, 363;  Articles  of  Convention 
signed  beneath  Treaty  Elm,  363; 
British  Army  stack  arms,  364; 
formal  surrender,  364;  British 
soldiers    separated    from    German 


troops,  365;  escape  of  prisoners, 
250;  Gen.  Burgoyne  entertained 
by  Gen.  Schuyler,  366;  influence 
of  surrender  of  Gen.  Burgoyne's 
Army,  367;  camp  kettle,  350; 
Orderly  Book,  346;  Letter  to  Lord 
Germaine,  281,  309 

Burnett,  Gov.,  97 

Burnham,  John,  213,  278;  "Empire 
Shawl-mills, "  441 

Burns,  Franz,  and  brother,  118,  121, 

137 
Burr,  Aaron,  198 
Burrell,  Samuel,  245 
Burrows,  David,  260 
Burt,  Capt.,  154 

Burton,  Benona,  244;  George,  264 
Bushnell,  Calvin,  420;  Jedidiah,  417 
Buskirk    (Van    Buskirk),    Cornelius, 
264;  Bridge  Village,  117,  243,  256, 
426,  468 
Butler,  Prof.  James,  303;  Rev.  Jona- 
than Harris,  303 
Butterfield,  Capt.,  170 
Buttermilk  Falls,  91,  259,  264 
Button,  Hiram,  268;  William  P.,  55, 

91,107 
Buxton  Brook,  163 


Cabot,  John,  and  Sebastian,  60 
Cadenaret,    Sachem,    130,    131,    133, 

134 

Cady  homestead,  North  Adams, 
Mass.,  187;  shoe-factory,  461 

Calcutta,  421 

Calhoun  (Calhoon),  Samuel,  150; 
Simeon  H.,  400,  403,  424 

Calliers,  Gov.,  see  "Yonnondio,"  of 
New  France,  76 

Calumet,  18,  30,  40,  53,  54 

Calvin,  Rev.  John,  418;  Calvin 
Society,   221,   262;   grist-mill,   446 

Cambrian  Age,  Lower,  8;  Cambrian 
quartzite  rock,  4;  Cambrian  Sea, 
4,  8,  9;  Cambrian  Seashore,  483 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  204,  294 

Cambridge,  N.  Y.,  7,  262,  291,  436, 
437,  440,  442;  Valley,  109;  soil, 
438;  patents  and  first  proprietors 
of,  235,  251,  256,  258;  military 
district  of,  251,  256,  260;  First 
Baptist  Church,  261;  town-meet- 
ing and  founders  of  township,  260, 


558 


Index 


Cambridge — Continued 

265;  council  of  safety,  258;  turn- 
pikes, 115,  243;  Col.  Baum's  march 
up  Cambridge  Road  to  Bennington 
battleground,  330;  population  of 
town  during  1790,  267;  inns,  265, 
266;  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  Quaker  Church,  262;  acade- 
mies, 267;  industries,  438,  444 

Camp  Comfort,  227 

Campbell,  Lieut. -Col.  John,  371 

Canadas,  36,  157 

Canaan,  Ct.,  163,  171,  173 

Canassatiego,  Sachem,  39 

Canedy's  shoe-factory,  461 

Canfield,  James  Hulme,  408;  Judge, 
414 

Caniaderaunte,  see  Lake  Champlain, 
27 

Canis's  Report,  Hoosack  Patent,  1 1 

Canterbury,  Ct.,  216 

Cape  Cod  Bay,  24 

Cape  Breton  Island,  N.  S.,  78 

"Captivity,"  Mount,  6 

Carabines,  103 

Carleton,  Gen.,  St.  Johns  Navy -yard, 

Carpenter,  family,  187,  188;  Daniel 
P.,  267;  James,  262;  Joseph,  246; 
William,  quoted,  344;  Niles,  210 

Carter,  Dr.  Franklin,  405 

Case,  David,  237;  Joseph,  Place,  233; 
Rev.  Wheeler,  347 

Cassidy,  Lucas,  219 

Castle  Island,  see  Rensselaer  Island, 

15,32,58 
Castleton,  N.  Y.,  see  Schodac,  16,  23, 
28;  Castleton,  Vt.,  295,  297,  298, 

323 

Catamount  Tavern,  182,  183,  222, 
223,  281,  282,  286,  296,  309,  328, 
345,  37i;  sign-post,  310;  council- 
chamber,  311 

Catlin,  2d.,  Lieut.  John,  120,  128, 130, 
143;  letters,  525,  526 

Catskilt  Mountains,  iv,  22,  32, 47,  88, 
387;  Mahican  village,  550 

Catskill,  N.  Y.,  112 

Cattomack,  Sachem,  61 

Caughnawagas  warriors,  see  Kryn, 
44,  52,  76,  161 

Cavell,  Micah,  262 

Cenis,  Mount  tunnel,  457 

Century  Dictionary,  504 

Century  of  Progress,  450-481 


Chadbourne,  Paul  Ansel,  405;  grave, 

427       .       " 
Champlain,   Samuel,   iii,    16,  27,  60; 

Lake  and  Valley,  1,  4,  98,  112,  413; 

Canal,  378 
Channing,   Edward  Weeks  Baldero, 

159, 166 
Chapin,    Capt.    Elisha,  Fort,  Mass., 

122,  123,  150,  151,  166,  191;  letters, 

536,    537;    resignation,    152,    168; 

massacre,    170;   Rev.   E.  H.,   349, 

351 

Charlemont,  Mass.,  67,  130 

Charles  II,  King  of  Eng.,  11,  44,  62 

Charter  of  N.  Y.  (1664),  38,  62 

Chase,  Seth,  236,  262 

Chatfield,  Asa,  353,  359 

Chatham,  N.  Y.,  387 

Chazel,  Prof.  David,  267 

"Checkered  House,"  256 

Chekatabut,  Sachem  (Josiah),  39 

Chelsea,  Mass.,  226,  419 

Cherry  Plains,  Rensselaerwyck  Man- 
or, 234,  434 

Chescodonta,  Abenakis  Democracy's 
Council-Hill,  iii,  15,  19,  20,  22, 
59,  61 ;  castle,  16 

Cheshire,  Mass.,  186,  248,  442;  mili- 
tia, 329;  "Big  Cheese,"  199,  442; 
industries,  442,  462 

Chidester,  Sergt.  William,  Fort  Hoo- 
sac,  168,  169;  massacre,  170 

Chieftains,  Abenakis,  46,  61 

"Chin-dee"  ((Evil  Eye),  15 

Chinese  labor  in  N.  E.,  461 

Chingachgook  (Big  Snake),  Sachem, 
26,  29 

Chip  Day,  Williams  Coll.,  401,  402 

Chipman,  Capt.  John,  301,  375; 
Nathaniel  Bumppo-Chipman,  Sr., 
Capt.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  and  Patience, 
see  Schipman 

Chittenden,  Gov.  Thomas,  226,  310, 
322,  323;  308,  373;  Hon.  L.  E.,  293 

Choate,  Joseph  Hodge,  408;  Col. 
Choate,  162 

Church,  Jr.,  Benjamin,  300,  545 

Church,  Protestant  and  Roman  Cath- 
olic, 8,  77;  church  spires,  559, 
472 

Cilly,  Col.,  Battle  of  Saratoga,  360 

"City  of  Cannon"  (Albany,  N.  Y.), 

75 
Civil  War,  227,  425,  428,  444,  462, 
476,  502 


Index 


559 


Claessen,  Claes,  in;  Hans,  58; 
Lieut.  Matthew,  143 

Clarendon  Manor,  261,  272,  273 

Clark,  "Billa"  J.,  225;  Gen.  Francis, 
343,  361;  Lieut. -Gov.  George,  79, 
120;  Gideon,  235;  Gen.  Isaac,  286, 
287,  331;  Ithamar,  224,  225;  Jere- 
miah, 256,  258;  Nathan,  280; 
Robert,  160;  Capt.  Samuel,  327, 
336,  344;  William,  256 

Clark  Hall,  Williams  Coll.,  203 

Clarksburgh,  Mass.,  460 

Claverack,  N.  Y.,  34,  47,  365 

Clay,  Henry,  399 

Cleland,  H.  F.,  504 

Cleveland,  Adam,  437 

Clinton,  Gen.,  354,  355,  358,  359,  363; 
scouts,  259;  Gov.  De  Witt,  79,  81, 
101 

Clio  Hall,  226,  393 

Clute,  Frederick,  65 

Clyfton,  Matthew,  205 

Cochran,  Capt.  Robert,  278,  286,  287 

Cockburn,  Surveyor,  287,  288 

Coffin,  James  Henry,  497 

Cohoes  Falls,  iii,  18,  25,  32,  43,  59, 
64,65,  70;  Lane,  61;  City,  110,352, 
437,  470  m 

Cohoha,  2,  28,  29;  cornfield,  118,  121, 
122,  135,  137,  169;  origin  of  name, 

511-525 
Colburn,  Col.  N.  H.  Reg.,  357 
Colchester,  Ct.,  171,  180;  Colchester 

Falls,  Vt.,  288 
Cold  Spring,  402;  Cold  River,  455 
Colden,  Alexander,  256;  Lieut.-Gov., 

45,  232,  282;  patents  and  fees,  271, 

272,  274,  277,  281;  Proclamation, 

273,  276,  308 
Cole,  Lieut. -Col.,  157 
Coleraine,  Mass.,  67 
Colgate,  James,  218,  495 
Colgrove,  Capt.  Jeremiah,  185,  195, 

200,  202,  442,  443,  444,  448;  Park, 

196 
Collins,     Rev.     Daniel,     171,     382; 

Edward,  120 
Colve,  Gov.  Anthony,  44 
Comstock,  Capt.  Sunderland  militia, 

327;  John,  245,  480 
Concord,  Mass.,  499;  Concord  N.H., 

24 

Congdon,  Cotton-mill,  Hart's  Falls, 

Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.,  440 
Connecticut,  western  boundary,  62 


Connecticut  Vallev,   iv,  47;  patents 

of,  274 
Connecticut  Courant,  287,  321 
Connecticut  Home  Mission  Society, 

421 
"Constitution  Hill,"  241,  442 
Continental  Congress,  290,  306,  321 
Continental  Councils  of  Safety,  325 
Continental   greenbacks,   200 
Continental    road     to     Bennington, 

Vt.,447 
Conway,  Mass.,  380,  425 
Cook,  Asaph,  190;  James,  452;  Rose 

Terry,  500 
Cooksboro  Mills,  256 
Coon,  Hezekiah,  124,  234,  246;  Sam- 
uel, 240;  Rev.  William,  245,  246, 

250 
Cooper,    James    Fenimore,    25,    26, 

106,  133,  230;  William,  300,  545 
Coosacs,  iv,  3;    Coos    Falls,  iv,    31; 

Valley,  32,  34;  Meadow,  31 
Copake  Lake,  1 1 
Corey,  Rev.  William.-  237,  412;  John, 

Benedict,  and  Paris,  210,236,  413, 

532 
Corlaer  Village,  71 
Cornbury,    Lord    (Edward     Hyde), 

52,  55,  86,  88,  90 
Cornwall,  Ct.,  293 
Corstiaensen,    Capt.    Hendrick,    19, 

58,59 

Cotterel,  Sir  Charles,  94;  Randal, 
James,  and  Samuel,  233 

Cotton-mill  industry,  440,  444 

Council  Tree,  see  Witenagemot  Oak, 
29,   52,    106 

Councils  of  Safety,  see  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys,  viii,  282,  284,  286,  294, 
295,  309,  319;  messengers  287,  344; 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  296;  Battle  of 
Bennington,  220,  338,  344;  War 
of  1812-1865,227 

Courcello,  Gov.  Samuel,  in 

Coveville,  N.  Y.  (Dovegat),  353 

Cowden,  Maj.  James,  256,  261,  265, 
266 

Cowee,  Arthur,  438 

Cox,  Dr.,  425 

Crandall,  C.  H.,  367;  William  S.,  227; 
Samuel,  260 

Crawford,  John,  167;  Marion,  500 

Creasy,  Sir  Edward  Shepherd,  145, 
367,  450,  479 

Cromwellian  politics,  273 


56o 


Index 


Cropsey,  Jacob  O.,  234 

Crosbv,  Gov.,  98,  100,  102;  Simeon, 

338" 
Crown  Point,  N.  Y.,  see  Forts 
"Crow  Town,"  see  Bennington,  227 
Cummington,  Mass.,  389 
Cummins,  Rev.  Dr.,  478 
Curtis,  George  William,  392 
Curtiss,  Capt.  Allan  and  Elihu,  166, 

167;  Dr.  Simeon,  249 
Cushman,  Charlotte,  500 
Cuvler,  Capt.  Abraham  Cornells,  282, 

2«5 


D 


Daggett,  Rev.  Naphtalia,   176,  412; 

Mayhew,  260 
Dale,  Thomas  Nelson,  geologist,  10, 

16,  494,  500 
Dal  ton,  Mass.,  382,  442 
Daly,  Father  J.  B.,  426 
Danforth,    Keyes,    386,    387;    Capt. 

Sylvanus,  250 
Dankers,  Jasper,  65 
Darby,  Joseph,   187,  200,  443,  445; 

Leonard,  437,  440,  445 
Darling,  David,  202 
Dartmouth  Coll.,  194,  226,  392,  393; 

removal  case,  394 
Davis,   Emerson,   396,   397;   George, 

354;   George  Rex,   249,   250,   365; 

Miss  Davis,  teacher,  231 
Dawson,  Henry  B.,  310 
Day,  Daniel,  173;  Samuel,  198,  199 
Dayfoot,  "Tory,"  235 
Dean,  Josiah,  166;  Mr.  Dean,  294 
Dearborn,  Gen.,  357,  360 
De  Chastellux,  Marquis,  366 
Declaration   of    Independence,    216, 

293. 436 
Deerfield,    Mass.,   48,    76,    114,    126, 

140,  143,  145,  151,  210,  307,  336, 

451,  455;  River,  454;  roads,  177 
Defiance,  Mount,  324 
De     Fonda,     Johannes,     115,     233; 

neighborhood,   119,  233 
De  la  Galissoniere,  Marquis,  141 
De  Grove,  H.,  249 
De  Laet,  Johannes,  60 
De  Lamotte,  Martin,  91 
De  Lancey,  Lieut.-Gov.  James,  102, 

104,  120,  124,232 
De  Laplace,  Capt.,  302,  303 
Delaware- Mahican  Indians,  511-516 


De  Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  Laws,  368 
Demorest  Monthly  Mag.,  502 
Demuy,  Lieut.,  133,  136,  137,     138, 

140 
Denison,  Rev.  John,  503;  Rev.  John 

Hopkins,  428 
Dennis,  Rev.  J.  S.,  430,  431 
De  Norville,  Le  Seur  (Norton),  139 
De  Peyster,  Gen.  J.  Watts,  352 
De  Puy,  H.  W.,  287 
De  Ridder,  Garret,  353 
De    Ronde,    Rev.    Lambertus,    254; 

Margareta  Catherine  De  Sandra, 

254 

De  Rouville,  Hertel,  76 

De  Ruyter,  Gen.,  92,  115;  Johannes 
119,233 

De  Toqueville's  Union  Americaine, 
432 

De  Tracy,  Marquis,  34 

De  Vaudreuil,  Gen.  Rigaud,  and 
Gov.  Pierre,  81,  161 

Devil's  Chimney,  see  Hobbamocko, 
8,  11,  40,  84,  90,  468;  Devil's 
Kitchen,  106 

Devol,  Rev.  Cornelius,  262 

De  Wandelaer,  Johannes,  91,  254 

Dewey,  Prof.  Chester,  387,  399,  408, 
493;  Judge  Charles  A.,  394;  Daniel, 
I73>  383,  387J  Deweyville  (Bray- 
ton  ville),  Rev.  Jedediah,  215,  216, 
217,  218,  222,  226,  278,  287,  418; 
epitaph,  229;  Capt.  Elisha,  Inn, 
216,  218,  222;  company,  217,  323, 
337;  muster  roll,  547,  548;  Eldad, 
214,  227,  228;  Dewey  mansion 
(1777),  217;  mill  and  brook,  214; 
Tutor  Eldad,  226,393;  Josiah,  236 

De  Witt,  Rev.,  480 

Dexter,  Henry  Morton,  205 

"Diamond  Rock."  8,  61,  65,  66 

Dianonaehowa  trail,  see  Batten  Kill, 

31 

Dickenson,  Thomas  W.,  and  Con- 
sider, 300, 301 

Diderot's  Memoirs,  161 

Dieskau,  Gen.,  French  and  Indian 
Army  (1755),  154,  155,  156,  157, 
161 

Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  18 

Dimmick's  Stand,  see  Herrick's  Tav- 
ern, 223 

Dingermans,  Adams,  in 

Document  History  of  N.  Y.,  312,  313, 
540,  541,  542,  543 


Index 


56i 


Dodd,  Prof.  Cyrus,  472 

Dome,  The,  4,  409,  471,  476,  493 

Dongan,  Gov.  Thomas,  38,  66,  84,  1 12 

Dorset,  Vt.,  342 

Dorr,     Dr.     Jonathan,     265,     266; 

Joseph,  445,  446,  480;  Russell,  70 
Doty's  Cotton-mill,  441,  446,  466 
Douglas,   Asa,    173;    Capt.   William, 

234,  295,  296,  298,  301,  302,  327 
Dovegat  House  (Coveville),  66,  353 
Dow,  Rev.  Lorenzo,  196 
Doxie,  Samuel,  97 
Drake,  Samuel  G.,  39 
Drummond,  Rev.,  353 
Drury,    Nathan,    327,    329;    Phoebe, 

393;   Academy  and   High  School, 

196,  472 
Duane,  James,  70,  272,  277,  278,  281, 

286 
Dublin,    Ireland,  436,    445;    Castle, 

227 
Duke  of  York,    see  Charter  of  N.  Y. 

and  James  II.,  32,  271 
Dunham,  Capt.  Hezekiah,  354;  Oba- 

diah,  210 
Dunning,  Josiah,  279,  295,  306,  338, 

345;  Matthew,  210;  Michael,  210, 

295 
Durham  Manor,  272;  cattle,  249 
Dutch     Hooesac      (Little     Hoosac), 
Rensselaerwyck  Manor,  N.  Y.,  114, 
123,  124,  126,  130;  patroon  and  ten- 
antry, 119;  massacres,  167 
Dutch  Hoosac,  see   Hoosac,   N.  Y., 

IO4,    IO9,    121,    122,    127,    I42,    205, 

441,  450;  patroons,  69,  122;  French 

and    Indian    invasion,     104,    168; 

Militia,  14th  N.  Y.  Regiment,  361 
Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y.,  92,  370,  371 
Dwaas  Kill,  12 
D wight,  Edwin,  420;  Henry  W.,  400; 

Nathaniel,     162,     186;     Timothy, 

67,  162 
Dyer,  E.  Parter,  496;  William,  107 


E 


Eagle  Bridge,  N.  Y.,  no,  117,  136, 

458,  467;  toll-bridge,  243 
Eames  (Ames),  Nathaniel,  132,  143 
"Early  Morning  Scout,"  157 
East  Canada  Creek,  95 
East  Hampton,  Ct.,  142 
East  Granby,  Ct.,  347 
East  Hoosac   (Hoosuck)   Plantation, 
36 


Mass.,  184;  first  survey  (1739),  67, 
69;  second  survey  (1749)  and  plan, 
187,  188;  proprietors,  191;  mill- 
power,  186,  187;  First  Congrega- 
tional log  meeting-house,  190,  214; 
burial-fields,  196;  Quaker  meeting- 
house, 473,  474,  496;  town-meeting, 
incorporation  as  Adams,  193,  194; 
proposed  free  school,  153 

Eastman's  School  for  Girls,  472 

Easton,  Col.  James,  295,  296,  298 

Eaton,  Capt.  Abel,  387;  Amos,  10, 
40,  387,  388,  389,  452,  493 

Eddy  family,  187,  188;  Rose,  260; 
Capt.  Eddy's  R.  I.  ship-carpen- 
ters, 180,  315;  Brig.-Gen.  Gilbert, 
250,  265 

Eelkins,  Capt.  Jacob  Jacobs,  58,  59 

Eggerton,  Eleazar,  286,  331 

Eldred's  Inn,  233,  234,  235;  Silas 
Eldred,  231 

Embury,  Rev.  Philip,  262 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  25,  498,  492, 

494 
Emmons,    Dr.    Ebenezer,    geologist, 

10,  388,  400,  403,  408,  493;  Mount 

Emmons,  10 
English   Hoosac,   205;   Pilgrims,   59, 

60,  61,  67,  205,  224 
English  Revolution,  71,  413 
England's  Judicature  Act,  399 
Equinox,  Mount,  Taconac  Range,  4 
Erie    Canal,    421;    promoter,    442; 

first     lock,     450;     opening,     451; 

Grand  Barge  Canal,  481 
Estes,  David,  200,  443;  Truman,  446 
Esther,    Queen,    Schaghticokes    and 

St.  Regis  cantons,  56,  106 
Esopus,  Massacre  of,  III 
Etow  Oh  Koam,  Sachem,  93,  94 
Evangelical     (Evangelist)     Magazine, 

410,  423,  425 
Everett,  Edward,  451 
Evil  Spirit  (Fiend  of  Calamity),  1 06 
Exeter,  R.  I.,  221 


Faillon,  Rev.  Father  M.,  376 
Fairlee,  Vt.,  434;  West  Fairlee,  Vt., 

336,  394 
Fallen-hill,  8,  39,  84,  90,   106,   114, 

468 
Falls  Quequick(N.Y.),  11,26,84,  118, 

230,  236,  301 ;  Manor  and  tenantry, 


562 


Index 


Falls  Quequick — Continued 

117,  237;  burial-fields,  238;  mills, 
122,  437,  444,  446;  First  Baptist 
Church,  245,  478;  post-office,  243 

Fassett,  Capt.  John,  213,  221,  273, 
278 

Fay,  Benjamin,  218;  Dr.  Jonas,  287; 
Records  of  Council  of  Safety,  310, 
329;  Declaration  of  Vermont's  In- 
dependence, 319,  321;  Samuel,  212; 
Stephen,  222,  278,  310,  345 

Federal  Constitution,  township  sys- 
tem, 238,  241,442 

Ferrisburgh,  Vt.,  373 

Fellows,  Gen.,  362 

Festivals,  Indian,  28,  53 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  402;  Field's  Park, 
173.  x77»  402;  Rev«  David,  406; 
David  Dudley,  160,  398,  399,  406, 
425,  482,  494;  Dudley,  406;  Elisha, 
219;  Jesse,  343;  Stephen  J.,  398 

"Fiend  of  Calamity,"  see  Evil  Spirit, 
106,  134,  470,  481 

Fillmore,  Pres.  Millard,  Ensign  Na- 
thaniel, Sr.,  218;  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  218 

Finley,  Dr.,  Colonization  Society,  422 

Finney  Tavern,  250,  265,  448 

Fish  Creek,  26,  37,  352,  353;  herring 
industry,  436 

FishkilLN.Y.,  1 

Fisk,  Ezra,  420;  James,  Jr.,  467 

Fitch,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  145,  146,  383, 
384,  386,  387,  389,  412;  Report, 
394;  resignation,  392;  Mount  Fitch, 
163,  503;  Hon.  John,  50,  249 

Fitchburgh  River,  451;  Fitchburgh 
Railroad,  458 

FitzMaurice,  Lord  Edmund,  366 

Five  Nations,  see  Iroquois  Confeder- 
acy, 27 

Five  Points  Tavern,  187,  193 

Flags,  Colonial,  viii 

Flax-seed  industry,  436,  443,  444 

Flora's  Glen,  see  Thanatopsis  Glen, 
489,  490,  492 

Florida,  Mass.,  455,  472 

Folsom,  Capt.,  155,  157 

Fonda,  N.  Y.,  119 

Forbes,  Maj.,  Indian  scouts,  357; 
Dr.  John,  235;  Mary  Allen,  373; 
Phineas,  132 

Ford,  Lieut.  William,  328;  Jacob, 
245 ;  Thomas,  244 

Foreign  Missions,  see  Missions,  410, 
411;  Foreign  Mission  School,  421 


Forest  Park  Observatory,  473,  475 
Forts:  Albany,  34,  37,  44,  48,  50,  71, 

75,  78,  79,  81,  93,  95,  101,  124,  153; 
Amsterdam,  32,  34,  115;  Anne,  78, 
93;  Aurania,  see  Orange,  19;  Ben- 
nington, 331,  332;  Breakenridge, 
281;  Carillon,  see  Ticonderoga,  105; 
Cassin,  112;  Clinton,  78,  81,  82, 
101;  Crailo,  vi,  19,  34,  84,  114,  364; 
founders,  no,  III;  Crown  Point, 
see  Fort  St.  Frederic,  viii,  1 54,  301 , 
306;  Dayton,  95;  Deerfield,  137, 
140,  147;  Dummer,  79,  147,  150; 
Edward,  see  Fort  Lyman,  81,  153, 
154,  157;  encampment  of  Gen. 
Johnson's  Army  (1755),  155,  156; 
Gen.  Burgoyne's  Army  (1777),  326; 
Frederick,  50;  "Gibraltar,"  78,  80; 
capture,  208;  Good  Hope,  26,  61, 
in,  115;  Half-Moon  (site  of  Moe- 
nemines  Castle),  65,  77,  101,  115, 
117,  126,  169,  231,  253;  Hardy, 
353;  Herkimer,  95;  Hoosac,  122, 
162,  171,  183,  205,  210;  attack  of 
French  and  Indians,  170;  Ingolds- 
by,  78;  Lyman,  see  Fort  Edward, 
153;  Massachusetts,  v,   vi,  8,  71, 

78,  79,   101,    119,    120,    124,    126, 

127,  128,  129,  130,  131,  134,  137, 
139,  140,  142,  144,  147,  148,  149, 
151,  152,  153,  166,  168,  169,  170, 
183,  187,  205,  210,  450;  Meadow, 
203;  Farm,  168;  second  fort,  146; 
scouts,  167;  chaplains,  412;  "God's 
Acre,"  196;  English  flag,  150; 
"Hero  of  Fort  Mass, "  143;  Journal 
of  Operation,  126;  Muster  Rolls  and 
Letters,  124,  125,  126,  525-538; 
Monroe,  428;  Nassoureen,  32, 
58;  Nassou,  44;  Nastagione,  71; 
Neilson,  356,  357,  360;  Numbei 
Four,  80,  322;  Orange,  vi,  30,  31, 
34,  92,  no,  in,  114;  Pelham,  79, 

128,  148,  210;  Putney,  143;  Sara- 
toga, 78,  79,  81,  353;  Schaghti- 
coke,  74,  77,  83,  85,  86,  93,  95,  100, 
101,  103,  105,  126,  168;  Colony  of, 
117;  British  outpost,  258;  Schenec- 
tady, 46,  in,  252;  Shirley,  79,  128, 
130,  131,  142,  148,  210;  St.  Croix, 
v,  36,  37,  ioi,  109,  113,  114,  126, 
127,  137,  141,  495;  Colony  of, 
115,    117;    St.   Frederic,  viii,    71, 

79,  81,  82,  102,  141,  154,  155;  St. 
Regis,  47,  98;   Ticonderoga,    124, 


Index 


563 


Forts — Continued 

178,    183,   295,   319;   Col.    Ethan 

Allen's    capture,     258,    293,    294; 

Gen.  St.  Clair's  evacuation,   322; 

Gen.     Burgoyne's    capture,    324; 

Vrooman,  see  Saratoga,  78;  William 

Hendrick,  44;  William  Henry,  161 ; 

Massachusetts,  Fort,  Hist.  Soc.  148, 

191,  198,  398,  473 
Foster,  Ezekiel,  150,  166 
Fox,  Jehiel,  444,  446 
Framingham,  Eng.,  171,  442;  Fram- 

ingham,  Ct.,  245,  370 
Francis,  Col.,  324 
Francis,  Talbot,  292 
Francken,  Henry  Andrew,  243 
Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  54,  146,  276, 

468 
Fraser,  Gen.,  326,  330,  357,  358,  359, 

360,361,362 
French  Hoosac,  109 
Free  Masonry  organization,  243 
Free   Press  of  Newburyport,  Mass., 

424 
Free  School  of  Adams,   Mass.,   383 
Free  School  of  Williamstown,  Mass., 

see  Williams   Coll.,  382,  383,  385, 

432 
Freehold  Court,  279,  280 
Freeman,  Isaac,  353,  357 
Fremin,  Father,  36,  37 
French  and  Indian  War,  102, 103, 105, 

114,  116,  122,  139,  151,  152,  162, 

166,   167,   168,  206,  232,  257,  272 
French,  Jeremiah,  277 
French  Revolution,  378,  413 
French   Walloons    (Fort  Crailo  and 

Fort  St.  Croix),  30,  59 
Frothingham,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  215 
Frye,  Capt.,  227 
Fuller,    Jonathan,    237;    Dr.   Josiah, 

ejectment  case,  282,  286 
Fulton,  Robert,  434 
Furnace  Brook,  445;  Furnace  Grove, 

227;  Furnace  Hill,  443 


Galashields,  Scotland,  461 

Gale,  E.  T.,  454 

Gandawague  Village,  36, 44 

Garden  Association,  425 

Garden  Day,  Williams  Coll.,  401,  402 

Gardner,     Abram    B.,     458;     Elder 


George,  210,  211;  "Gad,"  241; 
Capt.  Caleb,  502;  Caleb,  Jr.,  502; 
Mrs.  Samuel,  see  Barnardus  Bratt, 
Hoosac  Manor,  1 19 

Garfield,  Gen.  James,  405,  406; 
assassination,  480;  Harry  Augus- 
tus, Garfield,  405 

Garretson,  Rev.  Freeborn,  221 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  424,  476 

Gates,  Gen.  Horatio,  see  Saratoga 
Battles  and  Councils  of  Safety,  36, 
318,  355,  357;  encampments,  258, 
356,  360;  plans  of  attack  of 
Burgoyne's  Army,  359,  362 

German  Flats,  95;  German  home- 
ranks,  365 

Germaine,  Lord  George,  366,  367 

Geronkonte,  Sachem,  Onondagas, 
Iroquois  Confederacy,  74,  76 

Gettysburgh,  Battle,  428 

"Giants  of  the  North,"  486;  "Giants 
of  the  Vale,"  476,  496 

Gibson,  Hamilton,  494 

Gibbs,  Dr.  Caleb,  221,  225 

Gideon,  Sachem,  98 

Gifford,  Elihu,  260,  265;  Capt. 
Nathan,  260 

Gilmore,  Capt.  George,  256;  William, 
236,  343 

Glacial  Period,  4,  6,  481 

Gladiolus  Fields,  438,  481 

Gladden,  Rev.  Washington,  408,  448, 
452, 461 

Glastonbury,  Vt.,  227 

Glezen,  Levi,  393,  394 

Glick,  German  officer,  Col.  Baum's 
redoubts,  336,  338,  340,  341 

"God  of  Thunder,"  106,  513,  525 

Gomez,  Spanish  navigator,  15 

Gooding,  Elmer,  336;  Peter,  240 

Goodrich,  Jenny  Paul,  398;  John  Z. 
70 

Goodsell,  Rev.  Buel,  221 

Goodyn,  Samuel,  60 

Gookin,  Daniel,  27 

Gordon,  Joseph,  440,  441,  445,  446, 
448;  Stephen,  419 

Gould's  Farm,  504 

Governor  Island,  15 

Grafton,  N.  Y.,  7,  10;  tenantry,  248; 
First  Baptist  Church,  248;  Paint 
and  putty-mills,  438 

Grand  Committee  of  Safety,  286,  309 

Grant,  Anna  McVicar,  102 

Gravel  Day,  Williams  Coll.,  401,  403 


564 


Index 


Graves,  Ebenezer,  166;  Moses,  166, 

168,  191 
Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  410 
Green,    Bryan,   409,   419,   420,   424; 

Edward,   233;   Joseph,   235;   Gen. 

Nathaniel,  235;  William,  354 
Greenbush,  N.  Y.,  30,  34,  59,  91,  Hi; 

French  Walloon  and  Dutch  Boer 

tenantry,  no;  mills,  234;  camp  of 

Col.  Ephraim  Williams's  Berkshire 

Boys  (1755).  152,  153 
Greenfield,  Mass.,  185,  199,  443,  449; 

Greenfield    and     Hoosac     Tunnel 

Railroad  Company,  452,  454 
Green  Island,  77 
Green  Mountains,  iv,   vi,    1,   8,   47, 

444,  471;  bed-rock,  454;  origin  of 

name,  321,  322,  468 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  183,  219,  251, 

304;  first  company  of  militia,  271, 

273;   muster   roll,   275;   regiment, 

286;     service,     427,     428;     heroic 

statues,  379,  380 
Green     Mountain      settlers,      1749- 

1763,  271;  Petition  to  Gov.  Moore 

N.   Y.,  277;  Petition  to  King  of 

Eng.,  277,  540,  541,  542 
Green  Mountain  State's  Declaration 

of  Independence,  321 
Green  Mount  Cemetery,  376 
Green  Mountain  Inn,  310 
Green  River,  Mass.,  29,  32,  119,  125, 

166,  167,  172,  173,  500;  Valley,  165, 

185,501.506, 
Greenwood  versus  Curtis,  414 
Greggs,  Col.,  331,  332,  335 
"Greylock,  Godfrey,"  500 
"Grey-lock,"  Sachem,  37,39,  46,  47, 

49,  53,  98,  114;  origin  of  name,  486 
Greylock    Range,    Taconac    System, 

4,  8,  10,  128,  163,  185 
Greylock,  Mount,  109,  140,  187,  197, 

263,  409,  474,  476,  484,  486,  494, 

496;  base  of,  483;  summit,  3,  482, 

501 ;  first  towers,  402,  482,  485,  497, 

499,  500,  508 
Greylock  Park  Association,  504,  506; 

summit  purchased,  506;  iron  tower, 

485 

Greylock  Reservation,  487,  500,  501; 
organization,  extent,  appropria- 
tions, and  roads,  506,  508 

Greylock  Village,  Mass.,  426,  460; 
Cotton-mill,  458 

Greylock  Hall,  see  Sand  Springs,  177 


Greylock,  Hotel,Williamstown,  Mass. , 
l7°,  x73,  1 79 J  Tavern,  Adams, 
Mass.,  202,  210 

Griffin,  Rev.  Edward  Dorr,  395,  397, 
421,  423;  Memorial  Monument, 
400,  427;  Hall,  386,  399,  400; 
Mount  Griffin,  486;  Tower,  Grey- 
lock, 497 

Groesbeck,  Col.  Johannes,  85,  103, 
105;  Nicholas,  117,  259,  264; 
William,  264;  Wouter,  91,  105; 
Nancy  and  Rebecca,  86 

Grover,  Elder  Benajah,  221 

Gueule,  La  Grande,  74 

Guile,  Daniel,  354;  Joseph,  237,  354 


H 


Hadley,  Mass.,  173 

Haight,  William,  452 

Hale,  Col.,  324;  Edward  Everett,  408 

Half-Moon  (Halve-Maen),  iii,  16,  17, 
455,  483i  Journal,  18 

Half-Moon,  N.  Y.  (Waterford), 
Patent  and  Manor,  64,  65;  origin  of 
name,  18 

Halifax,  N.  S.,  403 

Halstead,  Samuel,  260;  Miss  Hal- 
stead,  398 

Hall,  Gov.  Hiland,  229,  264,  267, 
272,  274,  279,  281,  293,  494; 
Charles  Cuthbert,  408;  Granville 
Stanley,  408;  Gordon,  420,  421, 
423;  Dr.  Murray,  249 

Hallenbeck,  Daniel,  232 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  387 

Hammond,  Dr.  Burton,  246 

Hampshire  Co.,  Mass.,  see  Berk- 
shire, 146;  citizens  on  Williams 
Coll.,  removal  case,  393,  394 

Hancock,  John,  191,  193 

Hancock,  Mass.,  173,  210,  502; 
militia,  327 

Hancock,  Lake,  Vt.,  463 

Hanover,  N.  H.,  194 

Hansen,  Johannes,  90,  263 

Hard,  Gideon,  267 

Hardwick,  Mass.,  204,  211,  213,  215, 
216,418 

Harmon,  Sergt.  Daniel,  Inn  (Yellow 
House),  223,  224,  278,  332 

Harrington,  Abishai  B.,  476;  Daniel, 
200;  vSilas,  237;  Theophilus,  413, 
414 


Index 


565 


Harris,  Capt.  Israel,  see  "Veritas," 

295,  296 
Harrison,    Titus,     172,     198;    Capt. 

Clement,  149,  191,  203 
Hart,    John,    262,    263;    mills,    438; 

Richard  P.,  452;  I.  B.,  454 
Hart's  Falls,  N.  Y.,  ii,  117,  251,  252, 

263,  264,  441,  445;  mill-power,  437, 

438,  444,  468,  469,  470,  481 
Harteau,  Henry,  202,  494 
Hartford,  Ct.,  26,  70,  163,  171,  294, 

301,444 

Hart  well,  Dr.  Thomas,  243 

Harwood,  Eleazar,  Peter,  and  Mary, 
211,  213,  278;  Benjamin,  212,  213; 
Zachriah,  224 

Hastings,  Joseph,   246;  Warren,  413 

Haswell,  Anthony,  226,  372;  John  C, 
476 

Hatfield,  Mass.,  130,  146,  153,  166, 
186,382 

Hathaway,  Albert,  220;  Nathaniel, 
458;  Nicholas,  114,  240;  Rufus, 
196,  203,  496 

Haupt,  H.,  &  Co.,  454,  455,  456 

Haver  Island,  61,  64,  65;  American 
redoubts  (1777),  352,  355 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  69,  76 

Haviland,  Joseph,  Patent,  220;  Havi- 
land  Brook,  see  Paran  Creek,  120, 
214,  220;  mill,  214,  220,  464, 
Haviland  Mills,  see  Sage's  City 
and  North  Bennington,  Vt.,  219; 
William  Haviland,  220 

"Hawkeye"  (Falls  Quequick  scout, 
Nathaniel  Bumppo-Schipman  or 
Chipman),  25,  133 

Hawkins,  Robert,  178,  181 

Hawks,  Sergt.  John,  Fort  Mass.,  130, 
131,  132,  138,  139,  140,  141,  142, 
143,  144,  249,  528,  529;  grave,  143, 
151;  Eleazer,  140;  Gershorm,  130; 
Betsey,  249;  Edward,  249 

Hawley,  Lieut.  Elisha,  147,  148,  154, 
53 !»  532;  Maj.  Joseph,  292;  Jehiel, 
288 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  185;  Ameri- 
can Note-Book,  202,  381,  403,  448, 
486,  496,' 497,  498;  Ethan  Brand, 
448,  449,  499;  Tanglewood  Tales 
and  Wonder-Book,  403 

Hayden,  machinist,  196 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  348 

Haynes,  Daniel  (Black  Hawk),  498, 
499;  Philip,  244 


"Haystack     Prayer-meeting,"     424, 

425 
"Haystack    Monument,"   409,   411, 

425,  426 
Hazen,  Richard,  69,  70,  79,  120,  163, 

187,  206;  Mount  Hazen,  69,  163, 

171 
Heartt,  J.  C,  454 

Helderberg  Mountains,  iv,  22,  47,  88 
Helling,  Capt.  William,  78,  233 
Hell's-gate,  12,  470 
Hemingway,  Abby,  496 
Hemlock,     Glen     Road,     397,     492; 

Brook,  167,    170,    173;    Cemetery, 

183,  194 
Henderson,  Caleb,  219,  287;  Nelson, 

246;  John  and  George  (Hessians) 

366;   Henderson's  storehouse,  Old 

Stockbridge,  Mass.,  365 
Hendrick,     Emperor,     93,     94,     97; 

Schoharie  (Bear)  Tract,  95;  death 

155,   156 
Hendricksen,  Tyman,  11 1 
Henry,  Lieut.  William,  214,  219,  278, 

284;    Henry's    Bridge,     see     Irish 

Corners  and  Riverside;     Patrick, 

219 
Herbin,  Lieut.,  8 
Herkimer,  Gen.  Nicholas,  354 
Herrick,  Col.  Samuel,  Tavern,  223, 

296,  323.  324,  375;  capture  of  Maj. 

Philip     Skene     (1775),    298,    301; 

Vermont  Rangers  (1777),  323,  337, 

338,  340,  342,  371 
Herring  fisheries,  see  Fish  Creek,  436 
Hessians'  Memorial  Monument,  229, 

346 
Hibbard,  Rev.  Ithamar,  215 
Hilete  (Alice),  65 
Hill,  Capt.,  227;  Caleb,  244 
Hillis,  Rev.  Newell  Dwight,  430 
Hinds,  Ezekiel,  210 
Hinman,  Aaron  B.,  263;  Reuben,  190; 

Capt.  Hinman,  Fort  Ticonderoga 

(1775),  304,  306,  307 
Hinsdill,  Deacon  Joseph,  221;  Hins- 

dillville,  Cotton-mill,   446 
Hintersass,  Johann,  366 
Hiscox,  William,  235 
Hitchcock,  Capt.,  154;  Prof.  Charles 

H.,  496;  Hon.  S.,  372;  Nathaniel 

132 
Hoag    (Hogg),  Asa,  260;    Abraham, 

Amos,  Jonathan,  and  Stephen,  262 
Hobart,  Col.,  337,  341 


566 


Index 


Hobbamocko;  see  Devil  and  Fiend 
of  Calamity,  8,  9,  12,  20,  32,  39,  40, 
53,  106,  483 

Hochelaga,  iii,  20 

Hodge,  Otis,  444,  458,  460;  Samuel, 
236 

Hoffman  Station,  N.  Y.,  37 

Hogg,  Barent  (Hoag),  231,  233 

Hogle  (Van  Hogleboom),  Francis,  241 

Holbrook,  Jr.,  Josiah,  199,  200; 
capture  of  Hessians,  191 

Hollister,  J.  S.,  228 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  457,  486; 
Isaac,  Nathaniel,  287 

Holson,  Capt.,  140 

Home  Missions,  412 

Hooesac,  River  and  Valley,  78,  109, 
115,  230,  234,  235;  Hooesac  Pass, 
438;  Rensselaerwyck  Manor,  Abe- 
nakis  title-deeds  (1637),  61 

Hoosacs,  see  Coosacs,  Soquonsacs, 
and  Abenakis  Democracy;  Can- 
tons of  Hoosacs  (Owl-Bears)  52; 
sachems,  61,  81;  Owl  Soquon,  471; 
religious  shrines,  483;  burial-fields, 

255 
Hoosacs'    hunting-grounds,    14,    19, 

483 

Hoosac  and  Mohawk  War,  Soquon's 
victory  over  Kryn's  Mohawks, 
36,  37,  38,  43,  44,  45,  88,  98 

Hoosac  Pass,  viii,  1,  3,  36,  61,  109, 
114,  118,  124,  131,  140,  471,  483, 
494;  Adams  Pass,  185;  Pownal 
Pass,  135,  141,  143,433 

Hoosac  Highlands,  497,  501,  504, 
506 

Hoosacs'  Mountain  (Forbidden),  iii, 
11,  28,  36,  43,  128,  130,  140,  185, 
186,  193,  392,  412;  war-trail  and 
stage-roads,  211,  432,  434,  448, 
454;  two  crests,  454,  formative 
rocks,  454 

Hoosacs'  Lake  District,  7,  10,  61,  230, 
248,  481;  geology,  388;  rye  and 
flax  industries,  230 

Hoosac  Valley,  iii,  1,  29,  43,  47,  97, 
106,  120,  122,  124,  126,  152,  249, 
294,  481,  482,  494,  495;  ancient 
names,  518-520;  origin  of  name, 
134;  roads,  90,  141,  147,  178; 
settlements,  205;  defences,  125; 
mill-power  and  progressive  era, 
450-481 

Hoosac  River,  5,  6,  12,  28,  66,  68,  69, 


70,  84,  115,  120,  163,  171,  352,  353, 
432,  455,  477,  493;  the  Orontes  of 
Western  Hemisphere,  409,  430,  510; 
branches  and  Abenakis  names,  518- 
520 

Hoosac  Patent  (Dutch  and  French 
Hoosac)  (1688),  Canis's  Report,  11; 
proprietors,  71,  83,  112;  bounds, 
84,  114;  copy,  72,  73;  great  lots, 
117,  118,  251,  263;  manors,  109; 
tenantry,  230,  231,  233;  military 
districts,  235,  236,  261;  Schaghti- 
coke  sachems  title-deeds,  37  (1707) 

Hoosac  townships  (English  and  Irish), 
first  surveys  (1739  and  1749),  45, 
56,  69 ;  Schaghticoke-Stockbridge 
title-deeds,  151;  Hoosacs'  Meadow 
(Fort  Mass.)  challenged,  144,  146, 
535,  536 

Hoosac  Canal,  451 

Hoosac  Tunnel,  450,  452,  453,  458, 
471 ;  promoters,  442,  450;  headings, 
excavations,  454;  rock-cutting  and 
boring  machines,  455,  456;  line  of 
tunnel,  457;  Eastern  Portal,  455, 
456;  Western  Portal,  453,  455,  457, 
472;  West  Shaft,  455;  Central  Shaft 
455,  456;  final  blast,  457;  opening, 
457 

Hoosac,  N.  Y.,  225,  233,  340,  442, 
498;  town-meeting  and  proprietors, 
241,  242;  "4  Corners  Inn,"  243, 
245,  250;  First  Baptist  Church, 
236;  post-office,  243;  roads  and 
bridges,  243;  flax  industries,  444 

Hoosac  Falls,  N.  Y.,  11,  230,  231, 
427,  437,  443,  445,  454,  467,  468, 
471,  478;  incorporated,  448;  manu- 
factures, 467,  468;  churches,  478; 
schools,   480;   street  railway,   470 

Hoosac  Junction,  N.  Y.,  11,  112,  458 

Hoosac  Valley  Electric  Street  Rail- 
way, 470,  475 

Hoosac  Valley  Park,  190,  475 

Hopkins,  Prof.  Albert,  10,  203,  408, 
424,  425,  429,  493,  500;  Louise 
Payson,  502;  Lieut,  Edward  Pay- 
son,  502;  graves,  427,  502;  Natural 
Sciences,  399,  403;  astronomical 
observatory,  400,  401;  meteoro- 
logical observatory,  402,  497,  500; 
Alpine  Club,  503;  essays,  425,  504; 
grave,  427,  504 

Hopkins,  Benjamin,  314;  Rev.  Henry, 
405,  408,  427;  Dr.  Lemuel,  371 


Index 


567 


Hopkins,  Rev.  Mark,  319,  395,  396, 

398,  400,  404,  405,  410,  425,  426; 

Memorial  Hall,  406,  407 
Hopkins,  Col.  Mark,  410 
Hopkins,  Rev.  Samuel,  32,  67,    119, 

409,  410;  Hopkinsianism,  416,  417, 

418;  Stephen,  287;  Maj.  Wait,  287 
Hopkins,  Mount,  476 
Hopkins    (Mark)    Training    School, 

472 
Hopkinton   Society   (Adventist)   418 
"Hopper"   Amphitheatre,   503,   506, 

508;  Hopper  Brook,  166,  173,  175, 

500;  Hopper  Mills,  497 
Hopper's        Wampanoag        Mineral 

Springs,  see  Sand  Springs,  471 
Horicons  canton,    see  Lake   George, 

17,  24,  26,  158 
Horsford.    John,    216,    273;    Josiah, 

168,   171,   173;  William,   168,   170, 

180;  Stephen,  171,  178 
Horton,  Alexander,  475 
Hosack,  Dr.  David,  387 
Hossett,  Gillis,  61 
"Hostead, "  Knickerbacker  Mansion, 

252, 253 
Hough,    Rev.    Benjamin,    221,   245, 

290 
Houghton,  Albert  C,  473;  Andrew  J., 

473 
Housatonac  River  and  Valley,  2,  28, 

29,  30,  32,  47,  108,  125;  Abenakis 

names,  67,  520-522 
"House  of  Peace,"  75 
Howe,  Lord,  105,  307 
Howe,    Gen.   (1777),  324,    326,   354, 

366,  367 
Hoyt,  Gen.  E.,  126,  529 
Hubbardton  Battle,  Vt.,  324 
Hubbell,  Aaron,  345;  Elnathan,  218, 

278,287 
Hudson,    Age,     see    Ordovican,     8; 

Bay,     19;    River,    66,    516,    518; 

Valley,  352,  353,  390,  495;  Patents, 

37;  turnpikes,  434;  railroads,  457 
Hudson,  Henry,  iii,  12,  16,  19,  205 
Hudson,  Gent.,  Dr.  Seth,   150,    166, 

167,  168,  170,  205,  210,  211,  232 
Hull,    Daniel,    234,    235,    240,    246; 

Dr.   Emerson,   246;   Rev.   Justus, 

246,  248,  250;  Gen.  William,  378 
Hunter,   Gov.,   95,   96;  James,   Sr., 

445,  46i      ■ 
Huntington,  Ct.,  370 
Huntington,  Dr.  Daniel,  220 


Hurd,   Amos,     196,    387;    Jedediah, 

186,  190,  191,  192,  200 
Huron-Mohawk  (Mingos),  26,  34,  430 
Hutchins,  Thomas,  70 
Huyck,  Jan,  115,  119,233 


Ida,  Lake,  7 

Idle  River,  Eng.,  205 

Idle  Wild  Inn,  197 

Ilchester,  Earl,  274 

Independence,  Mount,  397 

Indians,  see  Abenakis  and  Iroquois, 

511-525 
"Indian-cellar,"  107 
Indian  Commissioners,  45,  48 
"Indian  Hill,"  29 
Indian  names,  511-525 
Indians  in  U.  S.,  430 
"Indian  Square,"  470 
Industrial  Independence,  432,  435 
Ingersoll,  Capt.,  154;  Councillor,  281 
Ingoldsby,      Maj.-Gen.,      75;     Gov. 

Richard,  90 
"Inner  Hopper,"  503,  506 
Internal  Revenue,  457 
International  Code,  Law  Reform,  399 
"Irish      Corners,"      see     Riverside, 

Bennington,  Vt.,  214,  282,  375 
Iron  Industries,  444,  445 
Iroquois       Confederacy,      see       Six 

Nations,  16,  22,  27,  31,  44,  52,  93; 

cantons  and  names,  511,  522-525 
Irving,    Washington,    92,    268,    269, 

299,  389,  390;  musings  on  Death, 

488,  490,  495 
Ives,  Prof.,  387 


Jackson,  N.  Y.,  7,  267 

Jackson,  Gen.,  421 

Jackson,  Helen  Hunt,  502 

James  II.,  62,  71,  84 

Jansen,  Roelof ,  92 ;  Jacobus,  1 1 1 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  198,  442,  445 

Jenkins,  Charles,  392;  Rev.  J.  J.,  392 

Jennings,  Rev.  Isaac,  204,  216,  476, 

494,  546,  547 
Jennys,  W.,  182 
Jericho,  Mass.,  93 
"Jersey  Slick,"  see  Isaac  Tichenor, 

219 
Jesuit  Fathers,  36,  43,  44,  74,  "4 


568 


Index 


Jewett,  Samuel,  224;  Lieut.  Thomas, 

205,  210,  279,  282,  342 
Jewett's    Cobble    (Baum's    Height), 

336 
Jewish  Synagogue,  427 
Johannes,  Emperor,  Minsi  Race,  93, 

95 

"Johnny-cake  Hills, "  109 

Johnson,  Elias,  454;  Isaac  C,  468; 

Prof.  Isaiah  Y.,  266;  Jacques,  267; 

John,  232 ;  Sylvander,  458;  William 

Samuel,  277 
Johnson,  Gen.  William,  146,  152,  153, 

154,  155,  156,  157,  161 
Johnson  Hill  burial-field,  167,  170 
Johnsonville,  N.  Y.,  332,  426,  458 
Jones,  Electa  F.,  22,  30,  511,  513 
Jones,    Sr.,    Col.    Elisha,    187,    190; 

Capt.  Elisha,  Jr.,  191,  192;  David, 

326;  Josiah,  120;  Nathan,  187,  191 
Jones,  Dea.  Israel,  190,  191,  194,  200, 

203,  382,  393,  394 
Jones's  Nose,  Greylock  Range,  506 
Jordan,  Capt.,  81;  Thomas,  353 
Jorise,  Capt.  Adriaen,  60 
Journal  of  Geology,  504 
Journal  of  the  Times,  425 
Joy,  Benjamin  and  Charles,  438,  468 
Judson,  Rev.  Adoniram,  420,  423 
Judson,  Rev.  Dr.  Edward,  423 
Juet,  Robert,  16 

K 

Kalm,  Peter,  97 

Kanamoack,  Sachem,  Minsi  Race,  61 

Kaskekouke,  see  Skatecook,  55,   134 

Kayonderossera  Tract,  see  Schuy- 
lerville  Tract,  37,  66 

Keach,  Capt.  Abram,  250 

Keene,  N.  H.,  170,  187 

Keeperdo,  Sachem,  see  Hoosac 
Abraham,  98,  136 

Keith,  George,  445,  446 

Kellogg,  Benjamin,  170;  Prof.  Ebe- 
nezer,  176,402;  Joseph,  173;  Sam- 
uel, 173,  174,  180,  198,  382,  387, 
502 

Kemble,  Fanny,  500 

Kemp,  John  Tabor,  278,  281,  282, 
286 

Kent,  Ct.,  107,  180 

Kenyon,  Nathaniel,  260 

Kinaquarione,  last  battle-ground, 
Hoosac  and  Mohawk  War,  35 

Kinderhook  Valley,  7,  31,  434 


King  George's  War,  see  Shirley's 
War,  76,  78,  79,  100,  114,  148,  153 

King   Philip's  War,  see  Metcom,  83 

King  William's  War,  83,  no,  112,  155 

Kingsley  Place,  184,  190;  Abisha 
Kinglsey,  212 

Kingsley,  Charles,  358 

Kingston,  N.  Y.,  in 

Kingston,  R.  I.,  442 

Kinte-Kaye,  see  Hobbamocko,  77, 
103,  134,  138 

Kipp,  Ignace,  91,  255,  286,  488 

Kitsmac,  8,  15,  20,  30,  41 

Kittlehuyne  Massacre,  100,  10 1 

Knickerbocker,  Johannes  Van  Ber- 
gen, 91,  92;  Herman  Jansen,  91, 
96,  104;  Bible  (1682),  102;  Capt. 
Johannes  1st,  43,  83,  88,  89,  91, 
93,  96,  103,  104,  105,  117,  118; 
Col.  Johannes  2d,  56,  87,  105,  252, 
256,  267,  268,  269,  270,  488;  Bible, 
and  church-bell,  252,  254;  14th 
N.  Y.  Regiment,  258,311,312,313, 
361;  portraits,  270,  490;  Col. 
Johannes,  3d,  264,  267,  268,  452; 
Abram,  268;  Herman  Jansen 
(Prince),  264,  268,  270,  488;  Col. 
William,  see  "Nigger  Whipper, " 
30,  86,  267,  552;  Joseph  Foster, 
see  "Poet  of  the  Vale,"  Knicker- 
backer  Homestead,  56,  102,  495, 
507;  William  H.,  107 

Knickerbacker   Cemetery,    107,    490 

Knowlton,  Thomas,  132,  138,  139, 
142 

Kosciusko,  Thaddeus,  352,  355,  356 

Kreigger,  Col.  William,  115;  Juria 
Kreigger  Colony,  69,  114,  115,  118, 
121,  135,  137,  167;  mills,  210,  231 
232;  Hans  Kreigger,  210,  232,  255; 
John,  Peter,  and  William,  173,  175, 
177,199,232 

Kreigger  Rock  Neighborhood,  see 
North  Pownal,  Vt.,  6,  28,  114,  122, 
169,  467 

Krol,  Rev.  Sebastian,  61 

Kryn,  Sachem,  Maquaas  Race,  32,  34, 
36,  37,  39,  43,  74,  "4;  Caugh- 
nawagas  (St.  Francois),  53,  71, 
75,  157;  death,  47 


Ladd,  Edgar  P.,  239,  240,  241 ;  Hiram, 
240 


Index 


569 


La  Fayette,  Gen.,  202,  378,  494,  495 
La  Force,  Sieur,  133,  137 
Laggan,  Scotland,  273 
Lake,    Hendrick,   261,   332;   Robert, 

1I5>  332;  Rev-  William,  245 
Lake  Ashawagh  (Pownal  Pond),  493 
Lake  Champlain  (Lake  Corlaer),  37, 

133,147,294 
Lake  Corlaer,  see  Van  Corlaer,  46 
Lake  George,   37,    154,   204;    Battle 

145-161 
Lake  Long,  10,  248,  481 
Lake  Onota,  30,  486 
Lake  Pontoosac,  186 
Lake  Saratoga,  see  Fish  Creek  and 

Saratoga. 
Lake  St.  Sacrement,  100,  153,  161 
Lamb,  Abigail,  460 
Landslides,  503,  504 
Lanesboro,  Mass.,  167,  171,  266,  327, 

381,  399,  442,  506 
Langdon,  John  322 
Lansing,  Henry,  65;  Jacob  Abraham, 

256;  John,  291;  Peter,  353 
Lansingburgh,  N.  Y.,  7,  30,  248,  258, 

263,  437 
La  Prairie  Village,  44,  75,  307 
Lassell's  Gymnasium,  401 
Law  Reform,  398,  399 
Laurentian  Highlands,  4 
La  Volterie,  Lieut.,  136 
Lawton,  Elizabeth  and  Joseph,  260 
Lebanon,  Mounts  of,  409 
Learned,   Gen.,   Battle  of  Saratoga, 

362 
Lee,  Gen.,  428;  Joel,  452;  Parson,  370 
Leggett,  Gabriel  and  Isaac,  354 
Leicester,  Mass.,  393 
Lenape- Wyandotte  Races,  see  Algon- 
quin Race,  511 
Lenape,    Lenni-,   see    Unami    Race, 

20,  22,  52,  55,  483 
Lenox,  Mass.,  342,  392 
Lespinard,  Antonie,  66 
Letcher,    Cornelius,    233,    234,    235, 

248;  Hendrick,  119,  233 
Letter  Post,  266 
Lewis,  Abraham  and  Augustus,  235; 

Morgan,  364 
Lexington,  Battle  of,  179,  192,  290, 

291 
Leyden,  Holland,  59,  205 
Liberated  Slave,  424 
Liberian  Colony,  422 
Lievens,  Harmon,  65 


Limekilns,  462 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  427;  General,  200, 

347 
Lippincott's  Mag.,  347 
Literary  shrines,  482 
Litchfield,   Ct.,    163,    171,    172,    173, 

371,  418 
Little,  Rev.  Woodbridge,  382 
"Little  boy  Joe, "  498 
Little  Hoosac,  7,  8,  84,  109,  124,  125, 

246,  438,  481 
Livermore,  Capt.  Samuel,  163,  170 
Livingston,     Edward,     398;     Capt. 

Henry,    81,    101;    Philip,    78,    91; 

Robert,  II,  65,  66,  70,  398,  434 
Lloyd,  Dr.  S.  Louis,  see  Sand  Springs, 

„   177,471 

Lockport,  N.  Y.,  450,  451 

Lon,  Jan  C.  N.,  228 

London,  Eng.,  94,  467;  London  Colo- 
nization Society,  422;  London 
Documents,  62 

Londonderry,  Ireland,  67,  219,  436; 
Londonderry,  N.  H.,  351 

Longueuil,  Canada,  307 

Loomis,  Harvey,  409,  419,  422 

Lords  of  Trade,  104,  274 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  436 

Lottery  tickets,  282,  383 

Lotze's  philosophy,  504 

Louis  XIV.,  King  of  France,  71 

Louisburgh,  N.  S.,  see  Fort  "Gibral- 
tar," 80,  208 

Lounsbury,  Thomas,  263,  264,  265 

Loups,  25,  516 

Lovatt,  John,  210;  Samuel,  132,  433 

Lovelace,  Gov.  Francis,  43,  44,  65; 
Gov.  John,  90 

Low,  Capt.,  Volunteers,  329 

Lowell,  Mass.,  441 

Lowell,  John,  70 

Loyalists,  see  Tories,  341,  342 

Lutherans,  230,  231,  246 

Lydius,  Col.,  151;  John  H.,  81 

Lyman,  Lieut.-Col.,  153,  154,  157; 
Joseph,  392 

Lyon,  Mary,  397 


M 


Mabie,  Hamilton  Wright,  494 

Mack,  Dominie,  98 

Mackay,  ^Eneas  and  Samuel,  384 

Mackimoodus,  106 

Madison,  Dolly,  270 


57o 


Index 


Madison,  James,  152,  268,  445 
Maessen,  Hendrick,  see  Van  Buren, 

in 
Mague,  106 

Mahicans,  ii,  vi,  10,  22,  23,  24,  32, 
39,  41,  46,  52,  62,  88,  428,  482,  483, 
511-522 
Manchester,  N.  H.,  333,  351;  Man- 
chester, Vt.,  28,  29,  204,  343,  476 
Manconttanshal,  Sachem,  61 
Mandolin,  Tom,  254,  268 
Manorlands  of  Hoosac  Valley,  64 
Manning,  Capt.  John,  62;  John  H.,  467 
Manitou  (Good  Spirit),  18,  53,  134, 

483,513  , 

Manitou-aseniah    (Spirit-stones),    6, 

8,  41,  64,  115,  116 
Manitoulin    burial-field,    see   Tawa- 

sentha,  41, 106 
Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  vi,  218 
Matthew,  The  Tory,  206,  224,  225 
Matthew,  Capt.,  House,  342,  345 
Mapleton,N.Y.,  233, 245, 290,438, 480 
Maps,  xxiii,  xxiv,  21,  23,  63 
Maquon,  Hero,  iv,  15,  16,  18,  22,  24, 

25,  28,  29,  34,  39,  45,  48,  49,  53,  55, 

65,  66,  74,  84,  515,  5i6 
March  Cataract,  503 
Marcy,  Moses,  170 
Marin,  Col.  M.,  80,  81,  82 
Marsh,  Lieut.-Gov.  Joseph,  373 
Marshall,  Chief -Justice,  394;  Abram 

Marshall  house,  353;  Father,  216, 

418 
Marvin,  Capt.  Ebenezer,  282,  286 
Massachusetts,  iv,  24,  62,  70;  Mass, 

Board  of  Education,   471;   Mass. 

Mission   Society,   421;    Massachu- 
setts Sentinel,  382 
Masterlandt,  Holland,  92,  488 
Maurice,  Prince,  60 
Mauritius  River,  60,  517 
Mawwehu,  Sachem,  46,  47,  49,  97, 

98,  107,  108 
Mayflower,  ship,  24,  59,  483 
Mayoonsac  River,  28,  68,  69,   127, 

150,  184,  186,  199,  442,  459,  460, 

472,496,519 
McCosh,  Dr.  James,  381 
McCrea,  Jane,  massacre,  326 
McCullough,  Gov.  John  G.,  458 
McGilligan,    Father,    426 
McGinnis,  Capt.,  155,  157 
McKinley,  William,    196,   462,  473, 

474,475 


McVicar,  Lieut.  Duncan,  261,  272, 

273,  286 
Meacham,  Jonathan,    166;   William 

M.,  169 
Meack,  Dr.  Jacob,  173,  435 
Mechanicsville,  N.  Y.,  258,  437,  458, 

470 
Mellen,  Peter,    11 1;  William,  farm, 

336,  346;  Thomas,  340,  343,  344 
Mellen  Bridge,  335 
Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady,  see 

Anna  McVicar-Grant 
Merrimac  River,  Mass.,  499 
Merritt,  C.  N.,  454;  Charles  H.,  480 
Metcom,  Sachem,  46 
Mey,  Capt.  Cornelius  Jacobsen,  19, 

59 

Miami  hunting-grounds,  39,  98 

Michaelous,  Dominie,  20 

Middlebury,  Coll.,  Vt.,  296,  420 

Middletown,  Ct.,  215 

Mill  Centres  of  Hoosac  Valley,  437 

Mills,  Sr.,  Rev.  Samuel  J.,  389,  410 

Mills,  Jr.,  Samuel  J.,  see  Haystack 
Prayer-meeting  and  Missions,  266, 
389,  408,  409,  410,  411,  419,  420, 
421,  422,  423,  427,  431;  Mills  Park, 
see  Mission  Park,  425 

Miller,  Rev.  Alexander,  216,  418; 
Col.  Samuel,  163 

Miller  River,  Mass.,  451 

Mills,  Prof.  R.F.,  179 

Mingos,  31,  49 

Minichqua,  Sachem,  22,  24,  86,  512 

Minot,  James,  163 

Minsi  Race   (Wolves),  22,  25,  511, 

513,515 

Minute  Men,"  179,192,313,538-540 
Missions,  Foreign,  409,  410,  411,  420, 

421,  425;  Home,  412,  421,  422,  424 
Mission   Monument,  see   "Haystack 

Monument, "  409,  41 1 
Mission  Park,  see  Mills  Park,  409,  411, 

427,  594 
Mississippi  Valley,  40,  98 
Missisquoi  River,  Vt.,  98 
Mitchell,  Dr.  Jno.,  63,  271;   Samuel 

L.  Mitchell,  387 
Mnoti,  53 

Modoc,  advent  of,  14 
Moenemines  Castle,  iv,   25,   27,  31, 

43,  61,  64,  65 
Mogg  Megone,  Sachem,  77 
Mohawks,  iii,  19,  24,  45,  52,  55,  62, 

88,  in,  428,  429,  511,  522-525 


Index 


57i 


Mohawk  River  and  Valley,  31,  65, 

119,  247,  352,  434,  451,  522-525 
Mohegoneck  River,  26,  108,  512,  516 
Money  Brook,  see  Hopper,  500,  501, 

502 
Monitor,  iron-clad,  444 
Monongahela  River,  156 
Montague,  John,  214,  418;  Samuel, 

214,216,218 
Montcalm,  Gen.,  364 
Montesquieu's    Spirit    of  Laws,    vi, 

368 
Montgomery,  Gen.  Richard,  307 
Montreal,  Canada,  iii,  81,  101,  307, 

376,  457 
Montressor,  Col.  James,  353 
Monument  Mountain,  8,  28,  46,  120, 

522 
Moravians,  29,  84,  98,  116 
Morris  Academy,  Ct.,  419 
Morris,  Frederick,  120;  Gouverneur, 

355.  356;  Hamilton,  193;  Lewis  R., 

377;    Dr.    Philip   Van   Ness,   266; 

Robert,  355 
Moodus,  8,  10,  20,  31,  483 
Moody  Bridge   (River  Bend  Ford), 

29,  127,  177 
Moon  Hollow,  70,  163 
Moore,  Gov.  Henry,  276,  277,  278, 

542,  543 
Moore,  Rev.  Zephaniah  Swift,  226, 

392,  393,  394,  395,  396,  397;  Lieut. 

Judah,  226,  393 
Moore,  Thomas,  40,  41,  390,  481,  486 
Moor,  Rev.  Thoroughgood,  93 
Moreau,  N.  Y.,  223 
Morgan,  Gen.  Daniel,  357,  358,  359, 

360 
Morgan,    Gilbert,   267;   William   R. 

218 
Mormons,  418 
Morra,  Dav.,  270 
Moses,  Dr.  Salmon,  243 
"  Mother  Anne,"  see  Queen  Anne,  95 
Mott,  Capt.  Edward,  295,  296,  298, 

304 
Mountain  Day,  Williams  Coll.,  401, 

402,  403,  504 
Mowbray,  Prof.  George,  455 
Muir,  John,  482 
Mumford,  Thomas,  294 
Munroe,  John,  273,  286 
Munsell,   Hezekiah,  249 
Murphy,  Timothy,  361 
Murray,  Col.  John,  187,  191 


N 


Nach-a-quick-quack,  84 

Nack-te-nack,   64 

Nana  Apen-Ahican  Creek,  28,  46 

Nanfan,  Lieut.-Gov.  John,  76 

Narragansetts,  26,  46,  50,  52,  55 

Narrington,  Peace  of,  32 

Natural  Bridge,  28;   Natural  Dam, 

Lake  Bascom,  6,  135 
Nawaas,  23,  24 
Nawanemit,  Sachem,  61 
Negro  slaves,  416;  missionaries,  410; 

festivals,  414,  415 
Neilson,  John,  353 
Nelson,  John,  420 
Nepimore  Vale  (Shingle  Hollow),  109, 

118,237,438,519 
Nesbit,  Robert,  196 
New  Amsterdam,  31,  59 
New  Antioch,  Western  Hemisphere, 

411,425,510 
Newark,  N.  J.,  397,  421,  422 
New  Ashford,  Mass.,  171,  327,506 
New  Brunswick,  N.  S.,  403 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  410 
"New  Connecticut"  (Vt.),  321 
Newell,  Samuel,  420,  423 
New  England,  iii,   60,  88,   184,  322, 

341,  399,  481 
New  England  Magazine,  205,  410,  486 
New  Framingham,  Mass.,  171 
New  France    (Canada),  iii,  34,  124, 

152 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  iv,  167 
New  Haven,  Ct.,  171,  412 
New  Lebanon  Springs,  N.  Y.,  153, 

177,231,416,432,434 
"New  Lights"  (Separates),  214,  215, 

216 
New  London,  Ct.,  26,  237 
New  Milford,  Ct.,  171 
New  Netherlands,  iii,  vi,  23,  24,  32, 

34,  44,  45,  58,  60,  62,  92,  102,  423 
Newport,  R.  I.,  188,  410 
New  Schaghticoke    (Kent),  Ct.,  55, 

98,  107 
Newton,  Ct.,  295;  Newton,  Mass.,  67 
New  York  Colony,  44,  62 ;  New  York 

City,  112,  121,  421,  434,  462,  467, 

468 
New   York  Evening  Post,  432;  New 

York  Hist.  Soc.  and  Library,  102, 

392 
Niagara  Falls,  4 


572 


Index 


Nichols,  Rev.  Caleb,  221,  224 

Nichols,  Col.,  N.  H.,  Reg.  78,  337,  340 

Nicolls,  Col.  Richard,  34,  62,  115; 
George,  115 

Nicholas,  Father,  36;  William,  115 

Nicholson,  Gen.  Francis,  78,  94; 
Fort,  78 

"Nigger-Whippers, "  414 

Niles,  Jonathan,  188,  221;  Rev. 
Solomon,  410;  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel, 
324,  410,  435,  436;  George,  220, 
221;  Dr.  Louis  Edward,  485 

Nims,  Elisha,  130,  203 

Niskayuna,  N.  Y.,  15 

Nitro-glycerine,  455 

Noble,  Capt.  Eli,  224,  279,  286,  295, 
338;  Capt.  Enoch,  329;  Judge 
Daniel,  244,  451;  Rev.  Daniel,  180, 
382,  383,  387,  392,  393,  394,  414; 
Daniel,  244;  Sylvester,  244,  245, 
480 

Norfolk  Co.,  Va.,  376;  Norfolk,  Ct., 

384 

Normal  College  (North  Adams), 
Mass.,  473 

Norman's  Kill,  N.  Y.,  28 

Norridgewock,  Me.,  76 

Norris,  Mary,  421 

North  Adams,  Mass.,  first  surveys 
(1739-1749),  69,  162,  184,  186,  191, 
199,  200,  201,  294,  387,  427,  442, 
443,  445,  45i,  452,  453,  456,  459, 
468,  470,  473,  481,  487,  496,  506; 
incorporation,  472;  churches,  185, 
J95,  J96,  472;  schools,  198,  472, 
473;  library,  148;  inns,  185,  201, 
202,  448,  498;  manufactures,  458 

Northampton,  Mass.,  392,  393,  434 

North  Bennington,  Vt.,  214,  219,  494; 
churches,  427,  464,  478;  manu- 
factures, 466 

North  Egremont,  N.  Y.,  157 

North  Farm,  224 

Northfield  (Squakeag),  Mass.,  46, 
48,  70,  114,  140,  187,  484 

North  Hoosac,  N.  Y.,  454 

North  Pownal,  Vt.,  121,  137,  480 

Northrup,  Jonathan,  237 

Northwest  Hill,  70,  295 

Norton,  Rev.  John,  131,  132,  138, 
139,  140,  141;  Journal,  144,  529; 
grave,  142;  Mount,  506 

Norton,  Jos.,  228,  464 

Norwich,  Eng.,  145;  Norwich,  Ct., 
213,216 


Notch  Valley  and  Brook,   186,   187, 

200,  496,  497,  443,  506 
Nott,  Rev.  Samuel,  420,  423 
Nyack  Bay,  N.  Y.,  34 
Nye,  James  W.,  249 


Oakes's  Flora  of  Vt.,  389 

O'Brien  Patent,  274 

Ochserantogue  Tract  (Saratoga),  ?6, 

31,43,64 
CEta,   Mount  (Mason   Hill),  Vt.,   9, 

136, 493 
Ohio  Valley,  39,  98, 443 
Old  Hundred,  237 
"  Old  Lights, "  214 
Old  Schaghticoke,  N.  Y.,  83-108 
Old  South  Church,  382 
"Old  Yellow  House,"  223,  224 
Olin,  Giles,  220,  227,  445;  Judge,  267 
Olive  Branch,  ship,  378 
Onakee  Hill,  29 
Onderkirk,  Cornelius,  65;  Jacob,  115, 

117,  233,  34i;  Oldert,  65,  231 
Onetho,  484,  509,  513,  525 
Onion  River  (Winooski),  Vt.,  288,  373 
Onota,  see  Lakes. 
Onondagas,  Antinathin-Enanthayon- 

ni  Races,  53;  Council,  74 
Ontarios,  100 
Oothout,  Jan,    ill,    115,   117;  Hans 

Reiner,  115 
Orcombreight,  Sachem,  Stockbridges, 

29,  415,  416 
Ordovician  Age,  8 
Origins  in    Williamstown,    125,    126, 

132,  139,  140,  143,  144,  145,  152, 

153,  155,  156,  169,  174,  381,  525, 

526,  527,  528,  529,  530,  531,  532, 

533,  534,  535,  536,  537,  538,  543, 

544 
Origins  of  Indian  names,  511-525 
Oriskany,  victory  of,  354,  356 
Ormond,  Duke  of,  94 
Orontes  River,  Old  Antioch,  Syria, 

409, 510 
Osborne,  Capt.  Thomas,  250 
Osceola,  Sachem,  49,  97 
Oswald,  Capt.,  300 
Otis,  Col.  James,  187,  191 
Otley,  Prof.,  388 
Otter  Creek,  Vt.,  112,  133 
Outlawry  Act,  N.  Y.,  288 
Owens,  Abel,  248 


Index 


573 


Owl  Kill  Valley,  N.  Y.,  v,  8,  90,  109, 
ii2,  123,  136,  243,  252,  256,  257, 
332 ;  industries,  438,  440 

Oxford,  N.  H.,  194 


Paensick  Kill,  N.  Y.,  66 
Paep-Sikenekomtas,  Sachem,  61 
Page,  Dr.  William,  180,  315 
Paine,  Thomas,  372,  413,  416,  417 
Pakard,  Theophilus,  393 
Palmer,  Father,  216,  418 
Pan,  Jim  and  Hen,  107,  108 
Pan- Hoosac    (Lansingburgh,   N.  Y.), 

28 
Panther,  Wyandotte,  326 
Paper-Mill  Village  (Bennington  Falls), 

464 
Paran  Creek  (Haviland  Brook),  120, 

214,220 
Park,  Luther,  228;  Rev.  Paul,   216, 

418;  Trenor  W.,  228,  458,  464 
Parker,  Capt.  Enos,   192,   193,    329; 

Capt.    Didmus,    193;    Giles,    193; 

Oliver,  190,    193,  199,  200;  Linus, 

329, 342 

Parkman,  Francis,  55,  134 
Parsippary  Negro  Missionary  School, 

422 
Parsons,   Abraham,   see  Uncle  Abe- 

the-Bunter,  415,  416,  417 
Parsons,  Col.  Samuel  H.,  294;  Seth, 

443,  445,  448;  Theophilus,  70 
Partridge,  Col.  Oliver,  162,   166,  168, 

186,  187;  Dr.  Oliver,  342 
Pass-Apenock  Island,  28 
Passaconaway,   Sachem,  23,  24,  25, 

31,46 
Passquassic  Patent  (Greenbush),  66 
Patchin,  Dr.  Aaron  Drake,  243 
Patroons    of    Dutch    Hooesac    and 

Hoosac,  118,  238 
Patterson,  Col.  John,  180,  332 
Paul,  Truman,  198,  398 
Pausch,  Capt.,  Battery,  358 
Pawtucket,  Mass.,  24 
Payne,  Samuel,  172 
Peace  of  Paris,  126 
Pelham,  Mass.,  67 
Pennacooks,   Soqui-Minsi   Races,  iii, 

iv,  23,  24,  31,  37,  46,  47,  50,  52 

55,  88,  98 
Penobscot  Castle  32,  151 
Penock  (Concord,  N.  H.),  24,  46 


Pepperell,  Gen.  William,  80,  206,  208 

Perry,    Prof.    Arthur    Latham,    128, 

142,  146,  147,  158,  160,  203,  408, 

427,  503 
Perry,  Bliss,  180;  Grace,  182;  John, 

132,  141,  142,  143,  147,  169 
Peters,  Col.,  241,  326,  330,  337 
Peters,    Gen.    Absalom,    412;    Rev. 

Absalom,  219,  412,  413,  422,  476; 

Rev.  Hugh,  322,  412;  Rev.  Samuel, 

322 
Petersburgh,   N.  Y.,    119,   141,   197, 

230,  231,  438;  town-meeting,  246, 

247,  248 
Petersburgh       Junction,       (Hoosac) 

N.  Y.,    118,  167,  233,458 
Petaguanset  Treaty,  49,  50 
Petonboque,  55,   112 
Pequots    (Turkeys),  Unalachti-Minsi 

Races,  iii,  24,  46,  52,  55,  107 
Pequot  War,  28 
Phelps,  Col.  John  W.,  427 
Phelps,  Capt.  Noah,  295,  296,  298, 

302 
Philadelphia,   Penn.,    39,    397,    434, 

474 
Philip,  Gen.,  359 
Philip's,  King,  War,  26,  46,  47,  48, 

49,50 
Philologian  Society,  386 
Philotechnian  Society,  386,  389,  392 
Phipps,    Lieut. -Gov.    Spencer,     151, 

163,  168,  169,  170 
Phcebe  Brook,  416 
Phcenix  Mills,  200 
Picquet,  Abbe  Francois,  80 
Pidgeon,  Daniel,  449 
Pierce,  William,  452 
Pierron,  Father,  36 
Pilgrim  Church,  59,  205 
Pinxster  Festival,  415,  416 
Piscawen  Kill,  N.  Y.,  65 
Pishgachticok  (Schaghticoke),  55 
Pitcairn,  Maj.,  291 
Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  467 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  146,  177,  199,  328, 

382,  384,  386,  393,  397,  448,  449, 

452,  470,  471,  486,  506 
Pittsfield  Gymnasium,  399 
Pittsford,  Vt.,  279,  296 
Pittstown,  N.  Y.,  Patents,   10,  244, 

255,      256;      town-meeting,      265; 

churches,  259,  260;  inns,  265;  in- 
dustries, A34,  438 
Plainfield,  Ct.,  418 


574 


Index 


Plank,  Jacob  Albertzen,  61,  no 

Piatt,  the  stage-driver,  486,  497 

Pittsburgh,  N.  Y.,  250 

Plunkett,  Gen.  W.  C,  458,  461 

Pomeroy,  Lieut.-Col.  Seth,  154,  157; 
Rufus,  420;  Thaddeus,  392 

Pompanac,  pumpkin-fields,  29,  47 

Pontoosac  (Pittsfield),  Mass.,  30,  67, 
147,  522 

Poor,  Gen.,  359 

Porter,  Dr.  William,  332,  387 

Porter,  William  D.,  400,  406,  497; 
Captain,  154 

Portsmouth,  Eng.,  226;  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  210,  281 

Post,  Dr.,  Post's  Corners,  266 

Post  Road  inns,  244 

Potic  Village,  N.  Y.,  47 

Potomac  River,  434 

Potter,  Amos,  262,  272;  Maj.  John, 
233»  236,  244;  Bishop  Horatio,  478 

Poultney  River,  N.  Y.,  136 

Powell,  Jeremiah,  348 

Pownall,  John,  64;  Gov.  Thomas,  210 

Pownal,  Vt.,  61,  69,  167,  169,  187, 
205,  322,  365,  412,  432,  438,  439, 
451,  467,  493;  charter,  118,  167, 
226,  231;  town-meeting,  210; 
churches,  211,  221,  480;  militia, 
274,  279,  280 

Pownal  Centre,  Vt.,  470,  471 

Pow-wow,  Schaghticokes,  103 

Pratt,  "Bill,"  the  saw-buck  philo- 
sopher, 402;  Silas,  150,  166,  171, 
210;  William,  171;  Samuel  and 
Timothy,  211,  213 

Prendergast,  William,  255 

Prentiss,  Elizabeth  Payson,  502 

Prescott,  Gen.,  308 

Preston,  Ct.,  418 

"Prince  of  Erie,"  467 

"Prince"  Knickerbocker,  268,  269 

Prindle,  Charles  (River  Bend  Tav- 
ern), 171 

Privateering,  387 

Proctor,  Redfield,  310;  H.  F.  Proctor, 
Mansion,  168 

Prohibition  laws,  45,  179 

Prospect  Range,  500,  506 

Providence,  R.  I.,  180,  195,  442 

Provincial  Congress,  N.  Y.,  306,  314 

Pruyn,  Frank,  93 

Pubui  (hatchet),  53 

Pudding-stone  Cliffs  (Weeping 
Rocks),  36 


Pumpkin  Hook  (White  Creek),  N.  Y. 

29,  97;  mill  centre,  437,  440,  445 
Puritans,  59 
Putnam,  Asa,   181;  Henry  W.  228; 

Gen.   Israel,  291,  307,  420;  Peter 

Schuyler,  266,  291,  420;  John  Pope 

266,  291;  Perley,  182 


Q 


Quackenbosch  (Quackenbush) ,  Adri- 

ance   and  Wouter,   91;   Johannes, 

117,  233,  259;  Sybrant,  105,  255 
Quakers  (Society  of  Friends) :  Adams, 

196,  197,  442,  474;  Cambridge,  262, 

263;  Pittstown,  260 
Quebec,  Canada,  76,   101,  131,  141, 

142;  Fall  of,  124 
Queechy,  Lake,  Kinderhook  Valley, 

N.  Y.,  434 
Queen  Anne's  War,  76,  77,  84,  90,  102 
Queen  Esther    of    Schaghticokes-St. 

Regis  Canton,  98,  255 
Queen      Vinie      of      Schaghticokes- 

Pequots,  107 
Quequick  Falls,  N.  Y.,  29 
"Quider,"  see  Col.  Pieter  Schuyler,  75 
Quincy,  Josiah,  396 
Quit-rents,  84 
Quock  Island,  N.  Y.,  82 


Ragged  Mountains  (Greylock  Range), 

457,  486,  487,  506 
Rainbow  Bridge,  243 
Rale's,  Father  Sebastian,  War,  47,  76, 

77,114,  157 
Rambout,  Pierre,  143 
Rathburn,  Rev.  David,  245 
Rattlesnake  Brook,  70,  120 
Rauch,  Rev.  Christian  Henry,  98 
Raven  Rock  Peak,  506;  Road,  186, 

187,  189,  203,  443 
Rawnsley's  English  Lakes,  388 
Read,  Elinor,  226;  Rev.  Hollis,  226, 

419,  476;  Josiah,  132,  141,  142 
Recruiting  Officer,  101 
Red  Hook,  N.  Y.,  258 
Reid,  Col.  Mills,  288 
Renfrew,  James,  Mills,  462 
Rensselaerwyck  Manor,  61,   62,   64, 

109,  no,  115,  119,  120,  230,  231, 

232,  233;  military  district,  235 


Index 


575 


Rensselaers'  Mills,  233,  234 

Rensselaer  Plateau  or  Plains,  7, 8,  10, 
117 

Rensselaer's  Polytechnic  Institute, 
452 

Rensselaer,  Saratoga,  and  Ballston 
Spa.,  Railraod,  452 

Rensselaer's  Woollen-  and  Cotton- 
mills,  441 

Revolution,  American,  70 

Reynolds,  Cuyler,  Albany  Chronicles, 
14,  233,  291,  292;  Jeremiah,  260; 
William,  235 

Reynolds  Road  and  Station,  N.  Y., 
86,  95,  259 

Rhinebeck,  N.  Y.,  124 

Rhodes,  John,  236,  246,  437 

Rhode  Island  Baptists,  200,  232,  498 

Rhone  Valley,  France,  495 

Rice,  Senator  Harvey  R.,  425,  426; 
Jerome  B.,  440;  Maj.  Loring,  460; 
Luther,  420,  423;  Capt.  Moses,  79, 
130,  186,  211,  300,  448;  R.  Niles, 
438;  Samuel,  186 

Richards,  James,  409,  419,  420,  423 

Richardson,  "Al,"  448 

Richey,  Dr.  Hugh,  116,  243 

Richfield,  Mass.,  441 

Richmond,  A.  E.,  185,  202,  499;  John 
227 

Richmond,  Mass.,  328 

Rider,  Dickerman,  476 

Riedesel,  Gen.,  300, 325, 326, 330, 357, 
358,  359,  362 

Rigaud,  Gen.,  (De  Vaudreuil)  81,  82, 
100,  117,  119,  122,  132,  133,  134, 
.135,  136,  137,  139,  Hi,  143,  183 

Rittenhouse,  David,  70 

River  Bend  Camp,  28,  30,  127,  141, 
172 

River  Bend  Tavern,  179,  181,  329 

"River  Gods,"  186 

River  Indians,  scouts,  88,  93 

Riverside  (Irish  Corners),  Benning- 
ton, Vt.,  214,  219,  282 

Robbins,  Rev.  Ammi  Ruhaniah,  384 

Robbins,   Francis  L.,   409,  419,  420 

Robinson,  Rev.  John  (Leyden  Pil- 
grims), 59,  204,  205 

Robinson,  1st,  Samuel,  204;  Capt. 
Samuel,  2d,  204,  205,  208,  211,  213, 
214,  273,  277,  278,  317,  418;  Capt. 
Samuel,  3d,  211,  217,  278,  323, 
337,  345,  347,  543,  544,  546,  547; 
Leonard,   211,   278;   Gov.   Moses, 


220,  229,  278,  374,  376,  432,  433; 

Gov.  John,  229,  445;  Aaron,  212; 

Beverly,  374;  Daniel,  554;  David, 

212,     219;     Dr.     Ebenezer,     246; 

George   Wadsworth,   219;   Melvin 

H-,  547 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  444,  474 
Rockingham,  Vt.,  330 
Rockwell,  Col.,  506 
Rockwood,  George,  444,  464 
Rogers,  David  C,  460;   James,  220, 

332;  John,  412;  Col.  Robert,  428; 

Thomas,  353;  Rev.  Samuel,  245: 

Harper,  233,  242 
Roman   Catholic,   Irish  and  French 

parishes,  16,  42,  71,  74,  139,  158, 

426,  427 
Romans,  Bernard,  295,  296 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  408 
Root,  Elihu,  408 
Rossiter,  David,  328 
Rounds's  Rocks,  506 
Rowland,  Samuel,  255 
Rowley,  Capt.  Aaron,  328;  Thomas, 

Satire,  289 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  145 
Royal  Exchange  Tavern,  187 
Rudd,  Lieut.  Joseph,  218,  240,  278, 

342,  346,  548,  549 
Ruggles,  Col.,  204 
Rumsey,  James,  434 
Russell,  Nathaniel,  226 
Rutkers,  Harmon,  65 
Rutland,  Vt.,  279,  296 
Rutland  Railroad,  457 
Ruttenber's  Indian  Tribes  of  Hudson 

River,  37,  86,  513 
Ryan,  John,  233,  245;  James,  Mills, 

264 
Ryton  River,  Eng.,  205 


Sabrevois,  Sieur,  137 

Sachem,  Great  (King),  16,  513 

Sacred  Heart  (French  Catholic  Par- 
ish), 426 

Sacrificial  offerings  (Indians),  40 

Saddleback,  486 

Safford,  E.  B.,  310;  Col.  David,  287; 
Capt.  Jacob,  314,  344;  Col.  Joseph, 
213,  218,  278,  287,  314;  Lieut.-Col. 
Samuel,  212,  218,  222,  314 

Safford's  Mills  (Bennington),  Vt., 
219,  227 


576 


Index 


Sage,    Moses,    220,    227,    445,    446; 

Russell,  220 
vSage's  City  (No.  Bennington),   Vt., 

220,  445,  446 
Sagisquwa,  Sachem,  61 
Salem,  Mass.,  188,  421;  Salem,  N.  Y., 

182,  286,437 
Salisbury,  Ct.,  183,  293,  295,  443 
Sanders,  Robert,  65,  66,  67,  81,  90 
Sand  Hills,  4,  6,  28,  30,  326 
Sand  Springs,  Wampanoags,  28,  30, 

470 
Sanford  &  Brown,  228 
Sanford,  Samuel,  26,  176 
Sannahagog  Tracts,  25,  61 
Saratoga,  Lake,  fishing-grounds,  8, 19, 

26,     28,     36,    45,     436;     Manors, 

37,  38,  67,  112,  353,  355 
Saratoga  Battle,  192,  352,  353,  354, 

357,  358,  359,  360,  361,  367 
Sarum,  Eng.,  192 
Satterlee,  Rev.  William,  235 
Saunders's  school  books,  476,  478 
Sawyer,  Isaac,  256 
Saxe,  Gen.  Marshall,  161 
Saxony  (merino)  sheep,  188,  249 
Saxton,  Dr.,  468 
Say  brook,  Ct.,  67 
Schaahtecogue      Canton     (Schaghti- 

coke),  31,43,  67,  83,  88 
Schaets,  Rev.  Gideon,  54 
Schaghticokes     (Hoosacs  -  Housaton- 

acs),  29,    43,  47,   52,    55,  77,    96, 

98,   102,   104,   105,   114,   120,   128, 

130,  140,  150,  151,  169,  186,  428; 

burial-fields,  56,  86,  104,  490 
Schaghticoke  Mountain  (Kent),  Ct., 

30,  55, 107 
Schaghticoke  Plains,  N.  Y.,  255,  488 
Schaghticoke   Manors,    88,   90,   258, 

415;  Dutch  Church,  95,  101,  252; 

military  districts,  251,  256 
Schaghticoke,   N.  Y.,  437,  442,  444, 

454,  458,  470,  507;  town-meeting, 

263;  churches,  254,  263,  480;  inns, 

264;  industries,  468 
Schaghticoke  Hill,  264;  Hart's  Falls, 

11,  251,  263,481;  East  Schaghti- 
coke, 106,481 
Schemerhorn,  Rev.  J.  T.,  421 
Schenck,  Wesscl,  58 
Schenectady  Massacre,  71,  74,  75,  77 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  434,  452 
Schipman,    Sr.,    Nathaniel    Bumppo 

(Shipman&  Chipman),  237;  Capt 


Nathaniel,  Jr.,  286;  Capt.  John; 
Patience,  see  John  Ryan 

Schneider,  Hendrick  (Snyder)  Patent, 
153,  223,  224,  231,  232;  Capt.  John 
313,314 

Schodac  Capitol,  Abenakis  Democ- 
racy, iv,  16,  22,  23,  28,  32 

Schoharie  Tract  (Maquaas)  95 

Schuyler,  Capt.  Abraham,  94;  John 
Bradstreet,  384;  David  Davidse, 
66,  88,  90,  91;  Capt.  Johannes,  74, 
75;  Col.  Pieter,  66,  75,  78,  82,  83, 
90,  94;  Philipsen  Pietersen,  64,  66; 
Maj.-Gen.  Philip,  292,  307,  315, 
316,  317,  318,  323,  352,  354,  355, 

359 

Schuyler  Mills  Massacre,  80,  81 

Schuylerville  Manor,  N.  Y.,  tenants, 
353,  384,  434;  mansion,  362,  366; 
mills,  336,  354 

Scott,  Col.  Olin.,  227,  445,  462,  464; 
Phineas,  218,  398;  Gen.  Winfield, 
352 

Scudder,  Samuel  H.,  502,  503 

Seal  of  Free  School,  383 

Seal  of  "Tunnel  City,"  472 

Searles,  Capt.  Isaac,  3S6 

Sedgewick,  Catherine,  414,  500;  Gen. 
Charles  Frederick,  405;  Henry, 
Dwight,  and  Robert,  390,  398,  408; 
Theodore,  382,  414;  Prof.  Sedge- 
wick, 388 

Seelye,  Ephraim,  178,  210,  279 

Seminoles'  Revolution,  97 

Seneca  Chief,  canal  boat,  451 

Separatism  (S:rict  Congregational- 
ism), 59,  71,  205,  418 

Serampore  Baptist  Colony,  423 

Sergeant,  Erastus,  317;  Rev.  Jona- 
than, 29,  32,  67,  119 

Success,  ship,  422 

Severance,  Lieut.,  147 

Seven  Years'  War,  82 

Seward,  John,  420 

Shackburg,   Dr.,  364 

Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  205,  214,  225, 
272,  273,  286,  334,  340,  414;  char- 
ter, 220,  262;  church,  221,  290; 
iron  ore,  220,  445 

Shaking  Quakers  (Ann  Lee's  Soc.),4i8 

Shanly,  F.,  &  Brother,  contractors, 
Hoosac  Tunnel,  456 

Shaw,  Henry  ("Josh  Billings"),  399, 
442 

Shays's  Rebellion,  198,  199 


Index 


577 


Sheffield,    Mass.,    29,    32,    67,    119, 

382 
Shelburne,  Lord,  277,  366,  542,  543 
Shelburne,  Mass.,  392,  393 
Sheldon,  Dr.  Remember,  387 
Shepherd,  Rev.  Samuel,  392 
Sheridan,  Gen.,  427 
Sherrel,   E.   W.,   contractor,   Hoosac 

Tunnel,  454 
Sherwood,  Lorenze,  249 
Shield's  District,  iron  ore,  220 
"Shingle  Hollow"  (Nepimore  Vale), 

109,118,237,519 
Shippee,  Capt.  Amos,  198,  199 
Shirley,  Gov.  William,  80,  146,  152, 

153,  166 
Shirley's  War  (King  George's  War), 

79,  146 

Shonowe  Castle,  Kryn's,  34 
Shoreham,  Vt.,  296,  298,  302 
Sibley,  Benjamin,  444 
Sickles,  Thomas,  236,  241,  242,  244; 

Zachariah,  241,  242 
Sickles's    Mills    (Clark's    Mills    and 

Walloomsac),  Hoosac,  N.  Y.,  346 
Sickousson,  Sachem,  61 
Sigourney,  Lydia  Huntley,  43,  83,  486 
Silliman,"  Prof.,  387 
Silurian  Bay,  4,  10 
Simm's  Frontiersmen,  366 
Simons,  Peter,  234,  238 
Simonds,   Col.   Benjamin,    132,    141, 

142,  143,  166,  168,  174,  178,  183, 

315,  330,  383;  taverns,    171,   172, 

177,    211,    224,  225,  419;    militia, 

180,  319,  320,  321,  327,  332,  337, 

341,  447;  Polly  and  Prudence,  182; 

Rachel,  171,  182 
Simonds  Peak,  500,  501,  506 
Simsbury  Mines,  Ct.,  347 
Sioux  Nation,  missions,  428 
Six  Nations,  Iroquois  Confederacy,  27 
Skatecook   Creek,  vi,  30,  43,  55,   84, 

88,  119,518 
Skeetecook,  30,  55,  74,  517 
Skene,  Col.  Philip,  136,  301,  325,  343, 

344;  Mountain,  98,  136 
Skenesboro   Manor,   296,  298;  navy 

yard,  180 
Skinner,  Calvin,  260;  Benjamin,  387; 

Dr.  Joseph  Thompson,  246;  Gen. 

Thompson  Joseph,  382,  387,  389; 

Skinner's  Mansion  House,  178 
Sky  Falls  (Monev  Brook),  503,  506, 

508 

37 


"Slab  City"  (No.  Adams),  184,  199, 

200,  442,  498 
Slavery,  244,  245,  265,  409,  410,  414 
Sloan,  Capt.  Samuel,  171,  174,  179, 

387,  491,  432;  Musket  Men,  179, 

192;  muster  roll,  538,  539,  540 
Slocum's  Giles,    cotton-mill  (first  in 

U.  S.),  440,  445,  469 
Sluyter,  Rev.  Pieter,  65 
Smack  Island,  61 
Smead,  John  and  Mary,  132,  141,  142, 

143,  144;  "Captivity,"  6,  141,  142, 

144 
Smedley,  Aaron,  471 ;  John,  Mill,  172, 

177,  180,  315;  Levi,  211,  387;  Capt. 

Nehemiah,  168,  173,  176,  178,  211, 

212,  300,  327 
Smith,  Abiel,  190;  Alphine,  202,  448; 

Rev.  Daniel,  421;  Capt,  John,  60; 

John,  286;  Jonathan,  190,  241,  442; 

"Melancthon,  70;  Noah,  374;  Rev. 

Samuel,  259;  Sir  Thomas,  18;  Wil- 
liam, 376,  432,  439;  Capt.  Smith's 

militia,  327;  Dr.  Smith's  Collection 

of  American  Poetry,  371 
Snake  warriors,  20 
Society,  Propagation  of  Gospel,  277; 

Society     United     Brethren,     409; 

Society  Promoting  Arts,  436 
Sodom  (Shaftsbury),  Vt.,  332;  Stark 

paper-mill,  464 
Soldiers'  Home,  Vt.,  464,  465 
Solebay  Battle,  92,  115 
Solomon,  Capt.,  militia,  329 
"Sons  of  Freedom, "  viii,  205 
Soqui  Race  (Bears),  Abenakis  Democ- 
racy, 22 
Soquon,  Owl  of   Soqui  Race,  iv,  15, 

16,  20,  22,  25,  29,  31,  34,  36,  39, 

47,  48,  49,  52,  53,  55,  56,  66,  74, 

84,  88,  90,  93,  94,  102 
Southwestern  Vermont  Valley,   1,  4 
Spanish  Dollar,  502 
Specht,  Col.,  361,  362 
Spenser,  Edmund,  127 
vSpirit-dove,  see  Wakon-bird,  41,  116 
Spirit-stones,  see  Manitou-aseniah,  41, 

116 
" Spook  Hollow"  legends,  91, 255, 488 
Spooner,  Paul,  329,  330 
Sprague,  poet,  14 
Spring,  Dr.  Samuel,  420 
Springfield  (Aga warn),  Mass.,  48,  151, 

375,  382,  451,  484 
"Sprouts  of  the  Mohawk,"  70,  355 


578 


Index 


Squakheag  (Northfield),  Mass.,  49 
Squires,  Truman,  281,  283;  Buckley 

228 
St.  Agnes  Creek  (Kent),  Ct.,  98,  108 
St.  Ange  (Nastagione),  14,  15, 16,478, 

495 
St.  Anthony  Kill,  65,  66,  77 
St.   Antoine  of   Padua,    (Anthony), 

Mount,  16,  40,  495 
St.  Clair,  Gen.  Arthur,  324,  354 
St.  Croix  (Holy  Cross),  14, 16,34,  *39, 

255,  477,  478,  519 
St.  Croix  Bridge,  243,  438,  495,  519 
St.  Croix  Manor,  N.  Y.,    102,   112, 

116,  119,  122,  123,  124,  126,  236 
St.  Croix  Mills  (Van  Schaick  Mills), 

115,  "7,  330,  331,  332,  44i 
St.  Francis  Indian  Ledge,  8,  127,  129, 

138,  147,  148,  187,  191 
St.  Francis  River,  47,  104 
St.  Francis  warriors,  48,  76,  77,  80, 

103,  104,  105,  114,  122,  123,  128, 

130,  133,  134,  139,  140,  147,  151, 

152,  154,  155,  161,  167,  428 
St.  Francois  warriors,  114 
St.  Johns,  Canada,  123,  306,  307 
St.  Johns,  Hon.,  Paris,  372 
St.  Lawrence  Valley,  iii,  34,  44,  141, 

307,  390;  St.  Lawrence  Gulf,  4 
St.  Leger,  Col.  Barry,  326,  354 
St.  Luc,  Lieut.  Le  Corne,  81 
St.  Onetho,  16 
St.  Regis  warriors,  77,  102,  105,  106, 

114,  128,  134,  157 
Staats,  Abraham,  34;  Lieut,  Jochem, 

67 

Stafford,  Capt.  Joab,  192,  329 
Stafford  Hill  (Cheshire),  Mass.,  192 
Stage-coach    days,    185,     432,    448, 

449 
Stamford,  Vt.,  195,  323,  473 
Stamp  Act,  274,  276,  277 
Stannard,  Gen.  George  J.,  424 
Stan  wood,  Capt.  David,  280 
Stark,  Rev.  Dyer,  195;  Godfrey,  242; 

Inn,  227;  paper-mill,  464 
Stark,  Brig.-Gen.  John,  182,  183,  193, 
220,  224,  318,  322,  323,  325,  327, 
331,  332,  333,  336,  337,  33«,  340, 
341,  343,  346,  347,  348,  35o,  35i, 
354,  356,  359,  362,  363,  447 ;  Mount, 
471 
Starkweather,  William,  386 
Stars  and  Stripes,  viii,  267,  364 
Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  484 


Steamboats,  434 

Stephentown,  N.  Y.,  231 

Stevens,  "Jim,"  448 

Stewart,  Capt.  Lemuel,  382 

Stickney,  Col.,  337,  341 

Stiles,  Rev.  Ezra,  410,  412 

Stillwater,  N.  Y.,  12,  66,  82,  93,  263, 

282,  352,  354,  356 
Stock,  Godfrey,  244 
Stockbridge,    Past  and    Present,    30, 

5H,5I3 
Stockbridge,    Mass.,   8,    28,    38,   67, 

120,  126,  147,  151,  167,  186,  244, 

290,  317,  329,  365,  382,  392,  393, 

416,435,471,500 
Stockbridge  warriors,  29,  32,  47,  67, 

428 
Stockwell,  C.  E.   (Onderkirk  Place), 

231 
Stoddard,  Col.  John,  67,  80,  126,  129, 
146,  188,  208,  450;  Nathan  Pres- 
ton, 450 
"Stone    Arabia"    Patent    (Diamond 

Rock),  8,  61,  65,  66,  258 
Stone  Cobble  (Mount  Emmons),  10 
Stone  Hill,  8,  171,  432 
Stone  Post  Road,  249,  432,  434,  435, 

448 
Stone,  Silas,  tavern,  177 
"Stony  Ledge,"  500,  501 
Stoughton,  Father,  192 
Stowe,    Harriet    Beecher,    Minister's 

Wooing,  410 
Stratton,  Maj.  Isaac,  171,  174,  180, 

344;     Richard,      173,     176,      177; 

Mount,  163,  174 
Strong,  Rev.  Thomas,  412 
Stuart,    Prof.    (Andover   Seminary), 

420 
Stuyvesant,  Gov.  Peter,  33,  34,  46, 

92,  115;  Gerardus,  120 
Subterranean  rivers,  6 
Sugar-loaf   Mountain,    109 
Sumerset,  Negro,  case,  414 
Sunderland,    Mass.,    213,    214,    215, 

216,    418;    Sunderland,    Vt.,    327 

370,  372;  Peter,  286,  294 
Sunrise  worshippers,  482 
Swanton  Falls,  Vt.,  98 
Swart,  Dirck,  354 
Swastika  (Cross  of  All  Nations),  15, 

18,  40,  94 
Sweet,  Amos,  246;  Sweet's  Corners, 

175 
Sword  House,  353,  357 


Index 


579 


Swift,  Foster  E.,  471;  Rev.  Job,  384; 
"Swift  Place, "217;  Rev.  Seth,  180, 

382,383,387,419 
Sylvester,  Peter,  282 


Tabor,  Sylvanus,  43 

Taconac  Lake  District,  10,  no,  248, 

520 
Taconac  Mountain  System,  iv,  1,  7, 

10,  11,  22,  31,  358,  454,  471,  482, 

504,  520 
Taconac  Pass,  449;  Taconac  Tract, 

66 
Taintor,  Benjamin,  131 
Talbot,  Lieut.-Gov.,  441 
Talcot,  Maj.-John,  47 
Talmage,  Joel,  267 ;  Joseph,  264 
Taunton,  Mass.,  249 
Tawasentha  (Vale  of  the  Many  Dead), 

27,  39,  40,  106,  483 
Taylor,  Elias,  171;  Sergt.  John,  143, 

353,  361;  Sergt.  Samuel,  166,  168, 

173 
Taylor's  Crotch  (Kreigger  Mills),  166 
Temperance  societies,  225,  424 
Ten  Broeck,  Gen.,  312,  361 
Ten  Eyck,  Sheriff  John,  282,  284,  285 
Tenny,  artist,   333;    Prof.    Sanborn, 

427 
Tennyson,  Alfred,  115,  119,  271 
Teunis,  Egbert,  67,  88 
Thames,    River,    Eng.,   95;    Thames 

River,  Ct.,  26 
Thanksgiving  Day,  first,  32 
Thatcher,  historian,  345 
Thaxsted  Grange   (Braintree,  Eng.), 

368 
Thaxter,  Maj.,  126,  169 
Thayer,  Sarah,  397,  398 
Thermopylae  Pass,  viii,  127,  131 
Thomas,  missionary,  412,  423 
Thompson,   Hon.  Amasa,   210,  279; 

Barber,   225;    Charles,   276;   Prof. 

D.  F.,  30;  Frederick  F.,  406,  407, 

478 
Thomson-Houston  motors,  470;  Col. 

Thomson,  393 
Thoreau,  Henry  David,   1,  62,   116, 

381,  402,  403,  483,  484,  496,  499, 

500,  510 
Thorpe  &  Sprague,  448 
Thurbcr,  Mrs,  231 
Tibbits,    John,    442;    Hon.    George, 


248,  442,  450,  451,  452,  454,  468, 
470,  478,  480;  George  Mortimer, 
233,  247,  248,  249,  270,  477,  478, 
480;  Rev.  John  B.  478;  Rev.  Ed- 
ward,  478,  480;   Le  Grand,   249, 

341 
Tibbits's  Hoosac    School   for   Boys, 

477,  480 
Tibbits's  Lake  Cascade,  491 
Tichenor,  Gov.  Isaac,  219,  229,  280, 

433 

Ticonderoga,  iii,  88,  105,  192 

Tiffany  Brothers,  464 

Timias,   127 

Tinker,  Giles,  445 

"  Tinnonderoga  Tract"  (Ticondero- 
ga), 67 

Tioshoke,  cornfield,  15, 29,  90;  Manor 
(Hoosac  Patent),  252, 256;  villages, 

115,  117,  122,  136;  churches,  115, 

116,  259 

Tite,  Ishmael,  416 

Todd,  Alithea,  190;  Charles  Burr,  10, 

107;  Rev.  Samuel,  190,  194 
Tohkoneac  (Taconac),   n,  29,  519 
Toll,  Charles,  252;  Simon,  250 
Tom,  Mount  (Moodus),  10 
Tombstones,  228 
Tomhannac  Valley,  N.  Y.,  7,  8,  11, 

29,  30,  77,  85,  87,  91,  105,  252,  259, 

268,  481,  520;  churches,  259;  in- 
dustries, 438 
Tories  (Loyalists),  290,  323 
Torrington,  Ct.,  389 
Totemic  cantons  (Abenakis),  22,  511 
Towner,  Dr.  William,  387 
Townsend,     Charles,     274;     Martin 

Ingram,  398,  408 
Train,  Thomas,  166,  168,  182 
Treaty   of   Westminster,   45;   treaty 

between    Christians   and    savages, 

48;  Treaty  of  Paris,  375 
"Tree  of  Peace"  (Witenagemot),  53, 

98 
Trenor,  Thomas  W.,  227,  228,  445, 

464 
Tripp,  Dr.  Job,  246 
Trophies  of  war,  347 
Trout  hatchery,  475 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  7,  415,  438,  454,  468; 

Gentlemen,     268;    turnpikes    and 

railroads,     444,     451,     452,     458; 

reservoir,  481 
Trumbull,      Gov.     Jonathan,     310; 

Joseph,  294 


58o 


Index 


Tryon,  Gov.  William,  286,  287,  288, 

291 
Tunisson,  Garret  (Van  Vechten),  in 
"Tunnel  City"  (No.  Adams),  Mass., 

456,  459,471,472 
Tunnel,  Mount  Cenis,  456,  457 
Turner,  Caleb  B.,  458;  Isaac,  237 
Turnpikes    (stone    post   roads),   434 
Turtle  warriors  (Unami),  20 
Twenty-Mile  Line,  vi,  62,  118,  120, 

205,  220,  241,  262,  271,  272,  278, 

281 
"Twigs  of  the  Wilderness"    (Beech 

Seal  Court),  221,  244,  288 
Twining,  Sheriff,  404 
Tyler,  Duty  S.,  460 
Tyler's  History  of  Amherst  Coll.,  393 


U 


Ukhkopeck,  483,  512 

Ukhooh  (Owl),  15,  515 

Unalachti  (Turkeys),  24 

Unami  (Turtles),  22, 39, 107, 108, 483, 

484,511,512 
"Uncle  Abe-the-Bunter "    (Abraham 

Parsons),  415 
"Uncle  Tom"  (Tom  Mandolin),  254, 

255,  415,  488 
Uncus,  Sachem,  16,  23,  24,  25,  26,  49, 

53,  106,  134 
United  Brethren    (Unitas  Fratrum), 

420,  423;  United  Missions,  422 
United  States,  birthplace  of,  352 
Union  College,  420 
Union  Village  (Clarksburgh),  Mass., 

460 
Unitarianism,  418 
University    of    No.    Carolina,    401; 

University  of  Vt.,  422 
Unnuhkankun  (Runner),  52,  53,  515 
Unuwat  Castle  (Soquons),  iv,  25,  27, 

28,  31,  43,  61,  65 
"Up-River"  Methodist  Church,  245 
"Upper  Union,"  Clarksburgh,  Mass., 

199,  200 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  474 


Vail,  Aaron,  437;  D.  T.f  454;  Thomas, 

468 
"Vale  of    Peace,''  viii,    12,    16,    51, 

55,  96,  106,  254,  270,  458,  481 


Valley  Falls  (Pittstown),  N.  Y.,  117, 

426,  464 
Valley  of  Mingling  Waters,  458,  506, 

509,  5io,  518,  520 
Van  Antwerp,  Lewis,  263 
Van  Arnam,  John,  118,  210,  231 
Van  Broock,  Henry,  244 
Van  Bunschooten,  Rev.  Elias,  254 
Van  Buren,  Hendrick,  1 1 1 ;  John,  242 ; 

Martin,  no 
Van  Buskirk,  Johannes,  117,  259 
Van  Corlaer,  Capt.  Arendt,  1st,  46, 

61,  no,  in,  112;  Arendt,  2d,  in, 

112;    Arendt   3d,    112,    115,    116; 

Capt.  Jacobus,  in 
Van  Cortlandt,  Jacobus,  84,  112,  118, 

237;  Augustus,  117,  237,  238,  255 
Van  Curler,  Arendt,   see  Van  Corlaer 
Van  Cuyler  Patent,  261 
Van  De  Bogert,  Dr.  Myndert  Her- 

mance,  92,  93 
Van  Deel  (Diel),  Bastian,  118,  231, 

241 
Van    Denburgh,    Cornelius,    91,    93, 

353,    365;   Johannes,    115;   Leven- 

nus,  264 
Van  Dercook,  Michael,  255,  256,  259; 

Simeon,  259 
Van  Der  Hey  den,  146,  147 
Van  Derrick  mansion   (Van  Verick), 

119,  121,  141,  233 
Van  Der  Speigal,  John,  229,  464 
Van  Derwerker,  Garretse,  65 ;  Teunis, 

255 

Van  Dyck,  Cornelius,  66;  Peter  D., 
480 

Van  Eps,  John  Baptist,  74 

Van  Hogleboom  (Hogle),  Bartholo- 
mew, 66;  Pitt,  115,  117,  118,  I2i; 
231 

Van  Hoosen,  Israel,  255 

Van  Home,  Augustus,  117,  237,  238 

Van  Krieckebeek,  Capt.  Daniel,  31, 
60 

Van  Laer,  Arnold  J.  F.,  353 

Van  Loon,  John,  66 

Van  Lyberg,  Arnoudt,  58 

Van  Ness,  Capt.  Cornelius,  in;  Hen- 
drick, 84,  III,  112,  118;  Garret 
Cornelius,  St.  Croix  Manor,  114, 
115,  121,  130,  141,  238;  Cornelius, 
v,  117,  121,  122,  239,  240,  241,  375; 
Jan,  84,  in;  Philip,  117,  238,  251, 
252,  256,  257,  259 

Van  Norman,  Mr.,  118 


Index 


58i 


Van  Noorstrand,  Jan  Jacobse,  65 
Van  Olinde,  Pieter  Danielse,  65 
Van  Pfister,  Col.  Francis  J.,  233,  241, 

243,  248,  261,  330,  336,  337,  341, 

342,  343,  345,  346 
Van  Rensselaer,  Kiliaen,  60,92,  no. 

in,  119,  235,241,252;  Henry,  84; 

Jeremiah,  62;  JohnB.,  252;  Maria, 

84,  112,  118;  Stephen,  115,  120,  124, 

238,  248,  384,  388  ;Daniel,  244,  332 ; 

David,  115;  Rev.  Nicholas,  54 
Van  Schaick,  Capt.  Goosen  Garretse, 

64,  65,  355;  Henry,  384 
Van  Schaick  Island  (Adams  Is.),  65, 

355;     Van     Schaick's     Mills     (St. 

Croix   Mills),   441 
Van  Schelluyne,  Dirck,  62 
Van  Schoonhoven,  Guert  Hendrickse, 

65 

Van  Slyck,  Cornelius  Antonissen,  65 

Van  Tromp,  Gen.,  92 

Van  Valkenburgh,  Jacob,  240,  244; 
Sarah,  112,  240 

Van  Vechten,  Catherine,  118;  Col. 
Cornelius,  244,  353;  Maj.  Derrick, 
91,  99,  100,  258,  259;  Garret 
Tunisson,  84,  105,  in,  112,  118; 
Jacob,  100,  101;  Wouter,  117 

Van  Winkle,  Rip,  115 

Van  Woerdt,  Alida,  122;  John,  259; 
Capt,  Lewis,  117,  122 

Varsch  River  (Fresh),  Ct.,  26 

Vergennes,  Vt.,  288 

"Veritas,"  see  Israel  Harris,  303  304 

Vermont,  name  of,  321,  322;  Councils 
of  Safety  of,  321,  322;  Declaration 
of  Independence,  309,  371;  Con- 
stitution, 322,  413;  State  Line,  177, 
452,  554;  admittance  to  the  Federal 
Union,  376,  377,  432 

Vermont  Gazette,  226,  309,  476 

Vermont  Hist.  Mag.  (Gazetteer),   see 
Abby  Hemingway,   125,  287,  373, 
548 
Vermont  Hist.  Soc.  Proc,  309,  310 

Vermont  Mill -power  Company,  466 

Vermont  University,  378 

Verrazano,  Giovanni  da,  15 

Victory  Village,  N.  Y.,  Saratoga 
battlefield,  353 

Viele,  Arnout  Cornelisen,  74;  Abra- 
ham, 91,  259;  Louis,  74,  86,  91,  95; 
Ludovicus,  117,  259,  263;  Petrus, 
117,  259;  Sybrant,  263;  Yocob, 
117,252 


Vierge-de-Grace,  Ship,  142 

Vischer,     Johannes    Heermans,     91; 

Matthew,  312,  314 
Voeder,  Cutset,  91;  Dominie,  246 
Volney's  philosophy,  417 
Voorheres,  Martinus,  232 
Voseburgh,   (Vose),  Petrus  118,  231, 

273,274 
Vrooman,  Adam,  112,  115;  Bartholo- 
mew, 67,  112 


W 


Waddell  &  Shepherd,  441 

Wadham,  Mrs.,  370 

Wagner,  Lon,  224,  229 

Waite,  Rev.  William,  236,  260,  261 

Wakon-bird   (Spirit-dove),  8,  18,  30, 

41,    116,   507 
Walbridge,  Silas,  340 
Walbridgeville    (Bennington     Falls) , 

Vt.,  224,  466 
Waldo,  Dea,  236,  237,  261 
Wallace,  Elijah,  231;  Nathaniel,  337 
Walloomsac  Gap,  7,  493 
Walloomsac  Inn,  433,  448 
Walloomsac  Pass  of  Taconacs,  viii, 

109,  204,  471 
Walloomsac  River  and  Valley,  v,  1, 

6,  14,  29,  112,  126,  207,  213,  214, 

228,  235,  293,  369,  433,  437,  464, 

471,    477,    493,    494;    mill-power, 

441;  mihtia,  317,  318 
Walloomsac  Tract  and   Patent,   20, 

37,    120,    126,  220,  232;  origin  of 

name,  20,  336,  495,  519 
Walloomsac  Village  (Hoosac),  N.  Y., 

236,  346 
Walloon  Creek  (Walloomsac),  20,  120, 

519 
Walloons,  French,  19,  59,  61 
Walworth,  Benjamin,  233,  245;  Reu- 
ben, 249 
Wampanoags,  Unami  Race,  iii,   24, 

27,  37,  46,  50,  52,  55,  59^ 
Wanalancet,     Sachem,     Pennacook- 
Wampanoag  cantons,  24,  39,  46, 

47,53 
Wanamaker,  Jr.,  John,  484 
Wanepimoseck     Creek     (Nepimore), 

117,  519 
Wappanachki  (Abenakis),  39, 41, 134, 

135,484,511,512 
War  of  1812,  159,  227,  231,  250,  267, 
378,  436,  440 


582 


Index 


Ware's  State  Line  Tavern,  178,  179; 
Samuel  Ware,  420 

Ware,  Mass.,  213 

Warner,  Lieut.  Daniel,  278,  329; 
Capt.  John,  340;  Col.  Seth,  Cont. 
Reg.,  183,  219,  278,  284,  286,  296, 
298,  306,  314,  323,  325,  332,  338, 
343,  344,  375;  Susan,  Queechy,  434 

Warren,  R.  I.,  215,  261 

Warren  (Baptist)  Society,  173,  177, 
195,  214,  245,  418 

Warren,  David,  132,  142;  Capt. 
Gideon,  172,  286;  Jabez,  168,  210; 
Dr.  John,  224,  249;  John  Hobart, 
478;  Joseph,  191,  293;  Rev.  Obed, 
215,  261;  Otis,  224,  324;  Stephen, 

452,  454 
Warwick,  R.  I.,  235,  248,  442 
Warwickshire,  Eng.,  442 
Washburn,  Lieut. -Col.,  Peter  T.,  427 
Washington,  Gen.  George,  Rev.  Army, 

146,  153,  325,  346,  347,  354,  355, 

37i,  375,  376,  377,  387,  432,  439 
Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  7,  262,  267 
Wash-Tub  Brook,  6,  29,  118,  137 
Wassenaer,  Nicholaes,  31 
Waterbury,  Jr.,  Brig.-Gen.  David,  315 
Waterford,  N.  Y.,  65,  325,  355,  451, 

452,  481 
Waterman,     Col.    John,    444;    Col. 

William,  173,  185,  200,  202 
Watertown,  Mass.,  378 
Watson,  Schorel  Marters,  118,  231 
Watts,  Rev.  Isaac,  278 
Wawbeek  Falls    (Greylock    Range), 

503,  506 
Wayne,  Gen.,  307 
Webster,    Daniel,    341,    394;    Capt. 

Ebenezer,  341 
Weeme,  Capt.,  71 
Weeping  Rocks,  6,  9,  35,  36,  69,  118, 

255,  295,  432,  433 
Wekowohum  (Wigwam),  22,  513 
Welch,  Marvin  Gaylord,   176;  Rev. 

Whitman,  176,  179,  180,  192 
Welling,  Edward,  220,  464,  466 
Wells,    Austin,    261;    Edmund,  256; 

Thomas,  67 
Welsh  Colonics,  14 
Wendel,  Johannes,  66 
Wentworth,  N.  H.,  412 
Wentworth,  Gov.  Benning,  205,  206, 

208,  209,  210,  220,  226,  232,  271, 

272,  281;  Foster,  205,  210;  John, 

210 


Wesley,  John,  261,  262,  418 
West,  Rev.  Stephen,  384,  412,  416 
West  Canada  Creek,  N.  Y.,  95 
Westenholm,  John,  18 
Westerlo,  Rev.  Eilardus,  254 
Westfield,  Mass.,  47,  216,  418,  451 
West  Hoosac  Propriety,  67,  150,  153, 
162,  163,  167,  168,  169,  170,  171, 

187 
Westinghouse,  George,  118,  467 
Westminster  Massacre,  Vt.,  291,  374, 

375 

Weston  Field,  40 

Weston,  Mass.,  188 

Wetherell's  Willow  Dell  shop,  499 

Whale  Island,  66 

Wheeler  &  Wilson  sewing-machine, 
461 

Wheeler  vs  Wright  case,  280 

"Whig  Tavern, "  497,  499 

Whipping-post   (pillory),  244 

Whipple,  Alonzo,  121 

White  Creek,  N.  Y.,  see  Cambridge 
District,  7,  29,  112,  225,  234,  256, 
261,  266,  272,  340,  343,  438;  town- 
meeting,  267;  academy,  266 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  190,  278, 
418 

Whitehall    Manor    (Skenesboro),  N. 

Y.,  75,  98,  136,  343,  434 
White,  Hawley,  466;  Joseph,  300 
White  House  Bridge  (Hoosac),  N.  Y., 

231,  233,  243,  341,  435 
White     House     Manor     (Nepimore 

Vale),  233,  248,  330,  337 
White  Mountains,  N.  H.,  iv,  55,  448, 

502 
White  Oak  Tree,  162,  163,  206 
White  Oaks  (Williamstown),  Mass., 

171,  179,  403,  424,  427,  429,  471, 

504 
White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  Battle,  183,  319 
Whiting,  Vt.,  296 
Whiting,  Lieut.-Col.,  156,  157 
Whitman,  Reuben,  193 
Whitney,  William  D wight,  406,  408, 

504 
Whittebeck,  Thomas,  252 
Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  7,  13,  77, 

410,  418 
Wigowwauw  (Great  Sachem),  22,  28, 

513 
Wilberforce,  writings  of,  413 
Wilbur,  Fones,  353;  James,  201,  202, 

498,  499;  Jeremiah,  187,  188,  498 


Index 


583 


Wilbur  Park  (Greylock  Range),  163, 
503,  506 

Wilkinson,  Col.  Gates's  Army,  364 

Wilmington,  Del.,  462;  Wilmington, 
Vt.,  226,  347,  393,  480 

Willard's  Mount,  356 

Willemstadt  (Albany),  N.  Y.,  44 

William  Henry,  Fort,  154;  Hotel, 
161 

William  the  Conqueror,  139,  368 

William's  War,  King,  67,  71 

Williams,  Col.  Elijah,  208,  384 ;  Eliza- 
beth Jackson,  145,  146;  Col.  Eph- 
raim,  Sr.,  67,  68,  119,  145,  146,  151; 
Col.  Ephraim,  Jr.,  80,  120,  130, 
131,  144,  145,  146,  147,  148,  150, 
151,  152,  154,  155,  156,  159,  160, 
161,  166,  168,  186,  191,  192, 
199,  203,  208,  442;  Will,  153,  381, 
382,  384,  394,  396;  muster  rolls, 
527,  528,  530,  531,  533.  534, 
535,  537;  letter,  535,  536;  Mount, 
128,  161,460;  535,536;  Col.  Israel, 
120,  124,  125,  126,  130,  146,  147, 

•  151,  152,  153,  154,  166,  168,  169, 
187,  208,  210,  382;  Capt.  Jedediah, 
218;  Josiah,  208;  Capt.  (Rev.) 
John,  126,  208;  Rev.  (Bishop)  John, 
158;  Col.  (Dr.)  John,  265,  334; 
Robert,  145;  Roger,  188;  Samuel, 
Hist,  of  Vt.,  288;  Dr.  Thomas,  131, 
I33»  137,  140,  145,  158,  159,  208; 
Dr.  W.  S.,  159;  Col.  William, 
(Pittsfield,  Mass.)  80,  146, 166, 188, 
205,  208,  218;  Col.  William,  (Wil- 
mington, Vt.)  337;  Deacon  Will- 
iam, 382,  383;  Maj.  William,  360, 
362 

Williamstown,  Mass.,  126,  142,  150, 
153,  171,  174,  182,  183,  205,  293, 
296,  365,  366,  381,  382,  392,  393, 
409,  426,  427,  430,  432,  434,  435, 
442,  444,  449,  451,  489,  494,  502, 
506;  surveys,  68,  162;  plan,  163, 
164,  176;  town-meeting,  162,  174; 
1st  Cong.  Church,  173,  176,  177, 
180,  232,  386,  413,  419;  2d.  ong. 
Church,  177,  386,  387,  397;  3d. 
Cong.  Church,  387,  504;  Baptist 
Church,  militia,  294,  319,  327; 
inns,  179 

Williamstown  Free  School,  Jr.,  158, 
174,  197,  382,  383,  385,  386,  399, 
419 

Williams   College,  10,  158,  166,  226, 


381,  387,  389,  392,  399,  402,  408, 
409,  478,  492,  493,  497,  500,  505; 
trustees  and  seal,  384,  387;  presi- 
dents, 391;  campus  and  buildings, 
385,  386,  389,  400,  402,  406,  407, 
419,  490;  removal  case,  392,  393, 
394,  396;  Girls  Dept.,  397,  398; 
alumni,  159,  160,  384,  386,  390, 
397,  406,  408,  425,  494,  502; 
cemetery,  427,  504;  centennial,  408 

Williams  College  Quarterly,  36 

Williamstown  and  Williams  Coll., 
180,  181,  293,  304,  315,  388,  392, 
403,  406,  424,  425,  482,  492,  494, 
504,  538,  539,  540,  545,  548,  549 

Willis,  Nathaniel  P.,  494 

Wilson,  Allen  B.,  inventor  of  the 
sewing-machine,  202,  261,  461 

Windsor,  Ct.,  216,  418;  Windsor,  Vt., 

279 

Windsor  Print  Works,  444,  445,  460 
Winslow,  Gov.  Edward,  Mass.,  142; 

Gen.  Winslow,  126,  142,  169 
Winston,  John,  287 
Winthrop,  Gen.  Fitz  John,  75 
Wirt,  William,  394 
Wister,  Owen,  Virginians,  435,  491 
Witchcraft,  232 
Witenagemot  Oak,  vii,  30,  40,  43,  50, 

51,  52,  53,  54,  56,  57,  83,  91,  96, 

106,  484,  490 
Withington,  Nathan,  N.  410 
Witt's  Ledge,  459 
Wolcott,  Oliver,  292 
Wolfe,  Theodore  F.,  Literary  Shrines, 

494 
Wolfe,  Gen.,  James  82,  126 
Wolf  warriors,  15,  16,  20 
Wolves,  358 
Wood,    Aaron,     467;    Jethro,    437; 

Walter  Abbott,  244,  437,  445,  446, 

466,  467,  468,  480 
Woodbridge,  Joseph,    120,   392;   Dr. 

Luther  Dana,  427;  Rev.  Timothy, 

67,  119,  166,  170 
Woodburn,  John,  235 
Woodbury,  Charles,  492,  494 
Woodbury,  Ct.,  173,  190,  369 
Wood    Creek    hunting-grounds,    98, 

136 
Woodford,  Vt.,  220,  227,  228,  445,  464 
Woodward,  Scott,  436 
Woollen  industry,  436 
WTooster,  Col.,  Ct.  Reg.,  307 
Worcester,  Dr.  Samuel,  420 


5§4 


Index 


Worcester  River,  Mass.,  451 
Wordsworth's   Excursion,   494 
Worthington,    Col.   John,    158,   382; 

Gen.  Aaron,  235,  246,  250 
Wright,  Charles,  177,  187,  190,  210, 

279»  295;    Gen.  Josiah,    199,  279; 

Capt.     Samuel,     295,     304,     306; 

Solomon,  279;  Noah,  140 
Wyllys,  Col.  Samuel,  294 
Wyman,  Col.  Isaac,   126,   150,   166, 

168, 169, 170, 173, 187, 318,  319, 538 


Yale  College,  145,  177,  294,  383,  387, 
390,  392,  397,  420 


Yankee  Doodle,  364;  Yankee  Pil- 
grims, 39,  61;  Yankee  Schoolmas- 
ter, 101 

Yates  Peter,  91,  264;  Robert,  70, 
282,   285;   Yocob,    259 

Yorkers'  Patents,  277,  288 

Yorktown,  Va.,  375 

"Yonnondio, "  54,  74,  76 

Young,  Brigham,  393;  Dr.  Thomas, 
321,  322,  370,  371,  372 

Youngstown,  Ohio,  462 

Youth's  Companion,  180 


Zinzendorf,  Count,  29,  84,  116 


H:  Selection  from  the 
Catalogue  of 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Complete  Catalogue  sent 
on  application 


Bog-Trotting  for  Orchids 

By  Grace  Greylock  Niles 

Author  of  "  The  Hoosac  Valley  " 

Illustrated   from    Photographs   by  Katherine 
Lewers   and  the  Author 


8°.      With  24  Colored  and  48  other  Full-page 

Illustrations 

Net,  $2.50.     (By  mail,  $2.70.) 


Miss  Niles  is  an  enthusiastic  bog-trotter  and 
she  describes  in  a  very  charming  way  plant  life 
in  the  swamps  of  the  Hoosac  Valley,  a  region 
extending  over  parts  of  Vermont,  New  York, 
and  Massachusetts.  The  work  is  profusely 
illustrated  in  color  from  photographs  taken  of 
the  orchids  in  their  native  haunts.  Readers 
will  be  surprised  at  the  number  and  rare  beauty 
of  these  native  flowers,  which  are  little  known 
owing  to  the  inaccessibility  of  their  habitat. 

"One  can  scarcely  read  these  pages  without  be- 
coming an  enthusiast  on  the  subject.  It  is  easily  the 
most  delightful  and  inspiring  nature  book  of  the 
season." — Town  and  Country. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


By  Katharine  M.  Abbott 

Old  Paths  and  Legends  of 
New  England 

Saunterings  over  Historic  Roads  with  Glimpses  of 

Picturesque  Fields  and  Old  Homesteads  in 

Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and 

New  Hampshire. 


Old  Paths  and  Legends  of  the 
New  England  Border 

Connecticut — Deerfield — Berkshire 

Two    volumes.     8vo,  each  containing  about  175 

Illustrations  and  a  map 
Two  volumes  in  a  box,  $1.00,  net,  or  boxed  separately, 
each,  $3.50,  net 

**  At  home  on  every  inch  of  New  England  ground,  familiar 
with  all  the  legends  clustering  about  its  historic  places,  Miss 
Abbott  has  written  a  sort  of  glorified  guide-book,  in  which 
pictures  largely  replace  dry  descriptive  detail,  while  the  spirit 
of  each  scene  is  caught  by  some  bit  of  vivid  remembrance,  some 
anecdote  that  imparts  a  living  interest.  Every  step  is  enlivened 
by  pleasant  chat.  Indeed,  Miss  Abbott  is  one  of  the  most 
entertaining  of  cicerones  as  well  as  one  of  the  best  informed. 
Whether  one  be  intent  upon  taking  trips  from  Boston  to  points 
of  interest  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, or  prefer  the  less  costly  and  more  comfortable  equivalent 
of  fireside  travels,  her  book  is  just  the  thing.  It  is  beauti- 
fully made  and  lavishly  illustrated  with  pictures  of  scenes  in 
the  places  visited." — Pittsburg  Gazette. 

Illustrated  Descriptive  Circular  Sent  on  Request. 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


THE   MO  HAW  ft 
VALLEY 

Its  Legends  and  its  History 


By  W.  Max  Reid.  With  Seventy  Full-page  Il- 
lustrations from  Photographs  by  J.  Arthur 
Maney.    8vo.    (By  mail,  $3-75-)    Net,  $3.50 


There  is  no  section  of  pleasant  valley-land,  of  lake- 
and  forest-dotted  wilderness,  of  rushing  streams  and  cul- 
tivated fields,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  that  surpasses  in 
its  wealth  of  scenery  that  bit  of  the  Empire  State  known 
as  the  Mohawk  Valley.  It  is  natural  that  such  a  land 
should  be  rich  in  romance,  both  legendary  and  historical. 
From  Schenectady  to  Rome,  every  town  has  its  romantic 
story  of  the  French  Wars  or  the  Revolution,  every  bit  of 
woodland  has  its  wealth  of  pre-historic  legend. 

Many  characters  of  national  interest  figure  prom- 
inently in  this  record  of  the  Mohawk  Valley,  while  war- 
like Indians,  black-robed  Jesuits,  French  officers,  and 
early  English  settlers  —  the  picturesque  population  of 
the  Valley  a  century  ago — live  again  in  its  pages.  Pho- 
tographs and  sketches  of  persons,  places,  and  events 
profusely  illustrate  the  volume  and  aid  the  imagination 
of  the  reader  who  knows  and  loves  the  Valley  of  to- 
day. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

New  YorK  London 


The  Hudson  River  from 
Ocean  to  Source  :  :  :  •  : 

Historical        Legendary         Picturesque 
By  Edgar  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author   of  "  Chronicles  of  Tarrytown,"  "  Narragansett 
Bay,"  "  Henry  Hudson,"  etc. 

Large  8° ,  with  over  ioo  illustrations. 
Net,  $3.50.     By  express,  prepaid,  $3.75. 

NO  stream  in  America  is  so  rich  in  legends  and 
historic  associations  as  the  Hudson.  From 
ocean  to  source  every  mile  of  it  is  crowded 
with  reminders  of  the  early  explorers,  of  the  Indian  wars, 
of  the  struggle  of  the  colonies,  and  of  the  quaint,  peace- 
ful village  existence  along  its  banks  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Republic.  Before  the  explorers  came,  the  river 
figured  to  a  great  extent  in  the  legendary  history  of  the 
Indian  tribes  of  the  East.  Mr.  Bacon  is  well  equipped 
for  the  undertaking  of  a  book  of  this  sort,  and  the  story 
he  tells  is  of  national  interest. 

The  volume  is  illustrated  with  views  taken  especially 
for  this  work  and  with  many  rare  old  prints  now  first 
published  in  book  form. 

G.    P.   PUTNAM'S    SONS 

New  York  London 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


LIBRARY  USE 

FE*5     1954 

SENT  ON  ILL 

SEP  1  9  1995 

U.  C.  BERKELE 


LD  21-100m-7,'52(A2528sl6)476 


387975 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


